What does the acronym 'JOLTS' stand for?

JOLTS stands for the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics conducts this monthly survey to measure the movement of workers through the labor market. It reports job openings, hires, total separations, quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Those figures help analysts compare labor demand with employment and understand whether workers are changing jobs voluntarily or losing them involuntarily.

JOLTS became especially prominent during the “Great Resignation,” when quits and job openings reached unusually high levels in 2021 and 2022. The report complements the monthly Employment Situation report: payroll data describe employment growth, while JOLTS focuses on vacancies and labor flows.

A frequent mistake is reading “job openings” as the number of jobs actually filled. An opening is a position available for hiring; hires and separations describe realized movement. JOLTS also differs from unemployment statistics, which focus on people without jobs who are seeking work. Together, these measures provide a fuller picture of labor-market pressure.