JOLTS explained: US job openings data definition

By Ken Chigbo, Founder, KenMacro. Published 2026-05-13.

What is JOLTS?

JOLTS is the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, published monthly by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. It samples roughly 21,000 non-farm establishments and reports four core flows: job openings, hires, total separations, and a breakdown of separations into quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Unlike the Employment Situation report, which captures net payroll change, JOLTS measures gross labour market churn. The data is released with a one month lag, so a print covering a given reference month appears roughly five to six weeks later. The quits rate is widely treated as a leading indicator of wage pressure.

How traders use JOLTS

The desk treats JOLTS as a second-tier but rate-sensitive release, typically published at 10:00am ET. Macro traders focus on three metrics: the headline openings figure, the quits rate, and the ratio of vacancies to unemployed persons. A falling quits rate signals workers feel less confident switching jobs, which historically precedes slower wage growth and gives the Fed cover to ease. A sharp drop in openings can trigger immediate repricing of front-end Treasury yields, pulling DXY lower and supporting risk currencies like AUD and NZD. Retail traders often underweight JOLTS because it lags non-farm payrolls, but institutional desks weight it heavily during Fed pivot debates, as Chair Powell has repeatedly cited the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio in press conferences.

Common misconceptions about JOLTS

The most frequent error is treating JOLTS as a coincident jobs indicator. It is not. The release covers the prior month, so it lags non-farm payrolls by several weeks and rarely moves markets as violently. A second misconception is that high openings always signal a strong economy. Openings can stay elevated because firms struggle to fill roles, not because demand is accelerating. Third, traders sometimes ignore the quits rate, yet this single line item is one of the cleanest proxies for worker bargaining power and feeds directly into the Fed's wage inflation framework. Reading the headline alone misses most of the signal.

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Frequently asked

When is JOLTS released each month?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes JOLTS at 10:00am ET, typically on the first Tuesday or Wednesday of the month, covering data from two months prior. For example, a release in early March reports January figures. The exact date is published on the BLS economic release calendar at the start of each year. Traders should distinguish this from the Employment Situation report, which covers the immediately preceding month and is released on the first Friday.

Why does the Fed care about the quits rate in JOLTS?

The quits rate measures the share of employed workers voluntarily leaving their jobs each month. When workers quit freely, it typically reflects confidence in finding better paid roles elsewhere, which forces employers to raise wages to retain staff. The Fed views this as a structural driver of services inflation. A declining quits rate suggests wage pressure is easing, supporting the case for rate cuts. Chair Powell has explicitly referenced quits and the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio in FOMC press conferences.

How does JOLTS differ from non-farm payrolls?

Non-farm payrolls measure the net change in employed persons during a reference month, derived from the establishment survey. JOLTS measures gross flows: how many jobs were posted, filled, quit, or terminated. Payrolls tell you the net result, JOLTS tells you the underlying churn. A payrolls print of plus 200,000 could reflect 5.5 million hires against 5.3 million separations, which JOLTS reveals. Both come from the BLS but serve different analytical purposes.

Can JOLTS move the dollar significantly?

Yes, particularly when the print diverges sharply from consensus or when the Fed is in a data-dependent phase. A large miss on job openings can compress front-end Treasury yields within minutes, pulling DXY lower and lifting EUR/USD and gold. The reaction is usually smaller than non-farm payrolls or CPI, but during pivotal policy windows the move can extend across the session as positioning unwinds.

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