Job turnover in July moved at the slowest pace in more than a year due to a softening labor market, a government report showed on Tuesday.
The rate of total separations in July, a wide measure that covers all terminations of employment, fell to 3.2 percent from 3.3 percent in June and at the slowest rate since a matching 3.2 percent in April 2006, the Labor Department said. ( Reuters )
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey lags many job market gauges, but it can provide additional insight on labor market dynamics.
The department said data on layoffs in the financial and mortgage industries will likely appear in the August report to be released in October. Information in this report was collected ahead of the market turmoil.
Mortgage lenders Countrywide Financial Corp. and IndyMac Bancorp Inc. have already announced steep job cuts. Countrywide said it plans to cut 10,000 to 12,000 jobs over the next three months, while IndyMac said it will cut 1,000 jobs or 10 percent of its workforce.
During July, the separations rate dropped sharply in education and health services, falling to 2.2 percent from 2.6 percent in June, while the rate for leisure and hospitality fell to 6 percent from 6.3 percent the prior month.
The so-called quits rate, a component of total separations and a barometer of workers' ability to change jobs remained unchanged in July, the department said. In July, quits accounted for 59 percent of total separations.
The rate of layoffs and discharges, another component of total separations, also remained unchanged from June.
Fewer layoffs and discharges in leisure and hospitality and in education and health services offset a jump in the rate for wholesale trade and the construction industry.
The July job openings rate, which measures demand for labor, remained unchanged at 3 percent, while the hires rate, which gauges the number of employees added to payrolls during the month, rose to 3.5 percent from 3.4 percent.
Last week, a Labor Department report showed U.S. employers shed 4,000 jobs in August, the first contraction in four years when 42,000 non-farm jobs were cut.