Job Openings Little Changed at 7.4 Million in June 2026; Quits at 3.2 Million

Every major flow measured by the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey held close to its May reading in June 2026. The number of job openings was little changed at 7.4 million, hires were unchanged at 5.3 million, and total separations changed little at 5.4 million, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Within separations, quits (3.2 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.8 million) were both unchanged. JOLTS reads labor demand from the employer side and lags the payroll report by one month, so these figures describe June and not the most recent employment situation report.

Job Openings Hold at 7.4 Million

The number and rate of job openings were little changed at 7.4 million and 4.4 percent in June. Openings are a stock measured on the last business day of the month, distinct from hires and separations, which are flows accumulated across the whole month.

BLS applies the phrase "little changed" when a month-to-month difference does not clear the survey's significance threshold, which is not the same as saying the level was identical. Against a downwardly revised May, the June openings level was lower by 178,000, a decline of 2.4 percent. Measured against June a year earlier, openings were higher by 155,000, an increase of 2.2 percent. The annual comparison and the monthly one therefore point in opposite directions.

Beneath the flat total, industry detail ran both ways:

• Transportation, warehousing, and utilities: openings increased 97,000
• Federal government: openings increased 39,000
• Wholesale trade: openings decreased 74,000
• Nondurable goods manufacturing: openings decreased 55,000
• Mining and logging: openings decreased 9,000

The Turnover Picture

The number of hires was unchanged at 5.3 million and the hires rate changed little at 3.4 percent. Relative to the revised May figure, hires were higher by 96,000, an increase of 1.8 percent; against June 2025, hires were higher by 21,000, an increase of 0.4 percent. Hires decreased in federal government, by 6,000, the only industry BLS singled out.

Total separations changed little at 5.4 million, with the separations rate also at 3.4 percent. Separations were higher than the revised May level by 91,000, an increase of 1.7 percent, and lower than a year earlier by 81,000, a decline of 1.5 percent. BLS reported that total separations changed little across all industries.

Hires and total separations sat at closely comparable magnitudes in June, which is the ordinary condition of a labor market that is neither adding nor shedding positions at pace. These two flows should not be differenced against the openings level: the month-to-month change in openings is a separate quantity, not the residual of hiring against separations.

Quits, Layoffs, and the Composition of Separations

The number and rate of quits were unchanged at 3.2 million and 2.0 percent. Quits were higher than the revised May level by 79,000, an increase of 2.5 percent, and lower than June 2025 by 22,000, a decline of 0.7 percent. Quits decreased in federal government, by 4,000.

Layoffs and discharges were unchanged at 1.8 million and 1.1 percent, and BLS reported that layoffs changed little across all industries. Other separations, which capture retirements, deaths, disability, and transfers within the same firm, were little changed at 353,000.

The composition matters more than the total. Quits, which are voluntary separations initiated by the employee, outnumbered layoffs and discharges, which are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. A separations total weighted toward quits describes a churning labor market in which people are leaving jobs by choice; a total weighted toward layoffs describes a weakening one. June belongs to the first category. The quits rate, the conventional read on whether workers believe they can find something better, sat at 2.0 percent and did not increase.

May Revisions

Revisions to the prior month ran in both directions and are worth stating in full:

• Job openings: revised down 57,000, to 7.5 million
• Hires: revised up 82,000, to 5.3 million
• Total separations: revised up 159,000, to 5.3 million
• Quits: revised up 88,000, to 3.2 million
• Layoffs and discharges: revised up 53,000, to 1.8 million

Hires, total separations, quits, and layoffs and discharges were all revised upward; only openings was revised down. Monthly revisions of this kind result from additional reports arriving from businesses and government agencies after the previous publication, and from the recalculation of seasonal factors. Revisions of this order in the openings level are routine for this survey, and the June comparisons above are all measured against the revised May figures.

What It Means for Labor Demand

The June reading describes labor demand that is flat rather than deteriorating. An openings rate of 4.4 percent against a layoffs rate of 1.1 percent is the signature of employers who are neither expanding their vacancy stock nor releasing staff, while a quits rate holding at 2.0 percent indicates workers are not pressing their advantage by switching jobs in greater numbers. Demand has stopped tightening without turning into contraction.

The establishment size data reinforce the picture of stasis: firms with 1 to 9 employees and firms with 5,000 or more employees each showed little or no change in their job openings, hires, and separations rates, meaning the flatness was not confined to one end of the size distribution.

The next Job Openings and Labor Turnover release, covering July 2026, is scheduled for Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. ET. The figure that will confirm or contradict this read is the quits rate. It has held at 2.0 percent, and an increase would signal that workers have regained the confidence to leave voluntarily, while a decline would mark the flat labor market of June tipping toward a genuinely slack one.