JOLTS Update December 2024

by Oriane Casale
February 2025

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) Survey conducted by the BLS shows that in December the number of job openings remained steady at 168,000 over the month in Minnesota on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to one year ago, job openings were down by 25,000 or 13.0%. This compares to a decline of 12.5% nationally.

The number of hires fell 3.8% over the year in December in Minnesota and 4.3% nationally. Total separations increased by 4.3% over the year in Minnesota and decreased by 4.9% nationally.

Minnesota's job openings rate remained steady over the month at 5.2%. Nationally, the rate fell to 4.5% (see figure below). The job openings rate is the number of job openings as a percent of total employment plus job openings.

In Minnesota there were 0.6 unemployed workers for each job vacancy in December – or six unemployed works for every 10 job openings – unchanged from the previous four months. This indicates that Minnesota continues to have a tight labor market where there are fewer than one unemployed worker for every job opening. Nationwide the ratio remained at 0.9 in December.