JOLTS data are a regular reminder that there is always a great deal of “churn” in the labor market. For example, when we learn that the labor market added 195,000 jobs in June, it is important to remember that this is a net change, which masks a lot of shuffling.
When the labor market is stronger, there is much more churn. In 2006 and 2007, there were 5.3 million people being hired and 5.1 million people separating from their jobs(voluntarily leaving jobs or being fired) each month on average.
There is less churn today because jobs are so scarce that employed workers are less likely to quit the job they have. In 2006 and 2007, nearly 3 million workers voluntarily quit their jobs each month. That dropped to a low of 1.6 million in September 2009. And though it has since increased, it remains quite low, approximately 2.2 million workers in any recent month.
