The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows signs of a continued slow recovery. Job openings fell slightly to 5.4 million, and the quits rate remained, stubbornly, at 1.9 percent, where it has been for most of the last year. Along with last Friday’s jobs report, today’s report provides more evidence of a recovering but still weak economy. While most indicators have been trending in the right direction, nominal wage growth and the prime-age employment-to-population ratio remain far outside of target ranges, and provide ample evidence that the economy has a way to go before reaching full employment.

In October, there were 1.5 unemployed workers for every job opening, a slight tick up from last month. That means they for every 15 jobs, there are five potential workers who won’t be able to find a job no matter how hard they look. And the job-seekers-to-job-openings ratio is higher among certain sectors. Notably, there are still 45 unemployed construction workers for every 10 job openings in construction.

The sluggish quits rate is particularly troubling. At 1.9 percent, the quits rate was still 9.2 percent lower than it was in 2007, before the recession began. This is evidence that workers are stuck in jobs that they would leave if they could. A larger number of people voluntarily quitting their jobs would indicate a strong labor market—one in which workers are able to leave jobs that are not right for them and find new ones. Hopefully we will see a return to pre-recession levels of voluntary quits, but given that the rate has stayed flat, we are obviously not there yet.

JOLTS Hires, quits, and layoff rates, 2000-2015 Month Hires rate Layoffs rate Quits rate Dec-2000 4.100000 1.400000 2.300000 Jan-2001 4.400000 1.600000 2.600000 Feb-2001 4.100000 1.400000 2.500000 Mar-2001 4.200000 1.600000 2.400000 Apr-2001 4.000000 1.500000 2.400000 May-2001 4.000000 1.500000 2.400000 Jun-2001 3.800000 1.500000 2.300000 Jul-2001 3.900000 1.500000 2.200000 Aug-2001 3.800000 1.400000 2.100000 Sep-2001 3.800000 1.600000 2.100000 Oct-2001 3.800000 1.700000 2.200000 Nov-2001 3.700000 1.600000 2.000000 Dec-2001 3.700000 1.400000 2.000000 Jan-2002 3.700000 1.400000 2.200000 Feb-2002 3.700000 1.500000 2.000000 Mar-2002 3.500000 1.400000 1.900000 Apr-2002 3.800000 1.500000 2.100000 May-2002 3.800000 1.500000 2.100000 Jun-2002 3.700000 1.400000 2.000000 Jul-2002 3.800000 1.500000 2.100000 Aug-2002 3.700000 1.400000 2.000000 Sep-2002 3.700000 1.400000 2.000000 Oct-2002 3.700000 1.400000 2.000000 Nov-2002 3.800000 1.500000 1.900000 Dec-2002 3.800000 1.500000 2.000000 Jan-2003 3.800000 1.500000 1.900000 Feb-2003 3.600000 1.500000 1.900000 Mar-2003 3.400000 1.400000 1.900000 Apr-2003 3.600000 1.600000 1.800000 May-2003 3.500000 1.500000 1.800000 Jun-2003 3.700000 1.600000 1.800000 Jul-2003 3.600000 1.600000 1.800000 Aug-2003 3.600000 1.500000 1.800000 Sep-2003 3.700000 1.500000 1.900000 Oct-2003 3.800000 1.400000 1.900000 Nov-2003 3.600000 1.400000 1.900000 Dec-2003 3.800000 1.500000 1.900000 Jan-2004 3.700000 1.500000 1.900000 Feb-2004 3.600000 1.400000 1.900000 Mar-2004 3.900000 1.400000 2.000000 Apr-2004 3.900000 1.500000 2.000000 May-2004 3.800000 1.400000 1.900000 Jun-2004 3.800000 1.400000 2.000000 Jul-2004 3.700000 1.400000 2.000000 Aug-2004 3.900000 1.500000 2.000000 Sep-2004 3.800000 1.400000 2.000000 Oct-2004 3.900000 1.400000 2.000000 Nov-2004 3.900000 1.500000 2.100000 Dec-2004 4.000000 1.500000 2.100000 Jan-2005 3.900000 1.400000 2.100000 Feb-2005 3.900000 1.400000 2.000000 Mar-2005 3.900000 1.500000 2.100000 Apr-2005 4.000000 1.400000 2.100000 May-2005 3.900000 1.400000 2.100000 Jun-2005 3.900000 1.500000 2.100000 Jul-2005 3.900000 1.400000 2.000000 Aug-2005 4.000000 1.400000 2.200000 Sep-2005 4.000000 1.400000 2.300000 Oct-2005 3.800000 1.300000 2.200000 Nov-2005 3.900000 1.200000 2.200000 Dec-2005 3.700000 1.300000 2.100000 Jan-2006 3.900000 1.300000 2.100000 Feb-2006 3.900000 1.300000 2.200000 Mar-2006 3.900000 1.200000 2.200000 Apr-2006 3.800000 1.300000 2.100000 May-2006 4.000000 1.400000 2.200000 Jun-2006 3.900000 1.200000 2.200000 Jul-2006 3.900000 1.300000 2.200000 Aug-2006 3.800000 1.200000 2.200000 Sep-2006 3.800000 1.300000 2.100000 Oct-2006 3.800000 1.300000 2.100000 Nov-2006 4.000000 1.300000 2.300000 Dec-2006 3.800000 1.300000 2.200000 Jan-2007 3.800000 1.200000 2.200000 Feb-2007 3.800000 1.300000 2.200000 Mar-2007 3.800000 1.300000 2.200000 Apr-2007 3.700000 1.300000 2.100000 May-2007 3.800000 1.300000 2.200000 Jun-2007 3.800000 1.300000 2.000000 Jul-2007 3.700000 1.300000 2.100000 Aug-2007 3.700000 1.300000 2.100000 Sep-2007 3.700000 1.500000 1.900000 Oct-2007 3.800000 1.400000 2.100000 Nov-2007 3.700000 1.400000 2.000000 Dec-2007 3.600000 1.300000 2.000000 Jan-2008 3.500000 1.300000 2.000000 Feb-2008 3.500000 1.400000 2.000000 Mar-2008 3.400000 1.300000 1.900000 Apr-2008 3.500000 1.300000 2.100000 May-2008 3.300000 1.300000 1.900000 Jun-2008 3.500000 1.500000 1.900000 Jul-2008 3.300000 1.400000 1.800000 Aug-2008 3.300000 1.600000 1.700000 Sep-2008 3.100000 1.400000 1.800000 Oct-2008 3.300000 1.600000 1.800000 Nov-2008 2.900000 1.600000 1.500000 Dec-2008 3.200000 1.800000 1.600000 Jan-2009 3.100000 1.900000 1.500000 Feb-2009 3.000000 1.900000 1.500000 Mar-2009 2.800000 1.800000 1.400000 Apr-2009 2.900000 2.000000 1.300000 May-2009 2.800000 1.600000 1.300000 Jun-2009 2.800000 1.600000 1.300000 Jul-2009 2.900000 1.700000 1.300000 Aug-2009 2.900000 1.600000 1.300000 Sep-2009 3.000000 1.600000 1.300000 Oct-2009 2.900000 1.500000 1.300000 Nov-2009 3.100000 1.400000 1.400000 Dec-2009 2.900000 1.500000 1.300000 Jan-2010 3.000000 1.400000 1.300000 Feb-2010 2.900000 1.400000 1.300000 Mar-2010 3.200000 1.400000 1.400000 Apr-2010 3.100000 1.300000 1.500000 May-2010 3.300000 1.300000 1.400000 Jun-2010 3.100000 1.500000 1.500000 Jul-2010 3.200000 1.600000 1.400000 Aug-2010 3.000000 1.400000 1.400000 Sep-2010 3.100000 1.400000 1.500000 Oct-2010 3.100000 1.300000 1.400000 Nov-2010 3.100000 1.400000 1.400000 Dec-2010 3.200000 1.400000 1.500000 Jan-2011 3.000000 1.300000 1.400000 Feb-2011 3.100000 1.300000 1.400000 Mar-2011 3.300000 1.300000 1.500000 Apr-2011 3.200000 1.300000 1.500000 May-2011 3.100000 1.300000 1.500000 Jun-2011 3.300000 1.400000 1.500000 Jul-2011 3.200000 1.300000 1.500000 Aug-2011 3.200000 1.300000 1.500000 Sep-2011 3.300000 1.300000 1.500000 Oct-2011 3.200000 1.300000 1.500000 Nov-2011 3.200000 1.300000 1.500000 Dec-2011 3.200000 1.300000 1.500000 Jan-2012 3.200000 1.300000 1.500000 Feb-2012 3.300000 1.300000 1.600000 Mar-2012 3.300000 1.300000 1.600000 Apr-2012 3.200000 1.400000 1.600000 May-2012 3.300000 1.400000 1.600000 Jun-2012 3.200000 1.300000 1.600000 Jul-2012 3.200000 1.200000 1.600000 Aug-2012 3.300000 1.400000 1.600000 Sep-2012 3.100000 1.300000 1.400000 Oct-2012 3.200000 1.300000 1.500000 Nov-2012 3.300000 1.300000 1.600000 Dec-2012 3.200000 1.100000 1.600000 Jan-2013 3.300000 1.200000 1.700000 Feb-2013 3.400000 1.200000 1.700000 Mar-2013 3.200000 1.300000 1.500000 Apr-2013 3.300000 1.300000 1.700000 May-2013 3.300000 1.300000 1.600000 Jun-2013 3.200000 1.200000 1.600000 Jul-2013 3.300000 1.200000 1.700000 Aug-2013 3.400000 1.200000 1.700000 Sep-2013 3.400000 1.300000 1.700000 Oct-2013 3.300000 1.100000 1.800000 Nov-2013 3.400000 1.100000 1.800000 Dec-2013 3.300000 1.200000 1.700000 Jan-2014 3.300000 1.300000 1.700000 Feb-2014 3.400000 1.200000 1.800000 Mar-2014 3.400000 1.200000 1.800000 Apr-2014 3.500000 1.200000 1.700000 May-2014 3.500000 1.200000 1.800000 Jun-2014 3.500000 1.200000 1.800000 Jul-2014 3.600000 1.300000 1.800000 Aug-2014 3.400000 1.200000 1.800000 Sep-2014 3.600000 1.200000 2.000000 Oct-2014 3.700000 1.200000 2.000000 Nov-2014 3.600000 1.100000 1.900000 Dec-2014 3.700000 1.200000 1.900000 Jan-2015 3.500000 1.200000 2.000000 Feb-2015 3.600000 1.200000 1.900000 Mar-2015 3.600000 1.300000 2.000000 Apr-2015 3.600000 1.300000 1.900000 May-2015 3.600000 1.200000 1.900000 Jun-2015 3.700000 1.300000 1.900000 Jul-2015 3.600000 1.200000 1.900000 Aug-2015 3.600000 1.200000 1.900000 Sep-2015 3.600000 1.300000 1.900000 Oct-2015 3.600000 1.200000 1.900000 Chart Data Download data The data below can be saved or copied directly into Excel. The data underlying the figure. Note: Shaded areas denote recessions. The hires rate is the number of hires during the entire month as a percent of total employment. The layoff rate is the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month as a percent of total employment. The quits rate is the number of quits during the entire month as a percent of total employment. Source: EPI analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey Share on Facebook Tweet this chart Embed Copy the code below to embed this chart on your website. Download image

Other signs of continued slack were found in the employment report last Friday. The prime-age employment to population ratio ticked up slightly in November after holding steady for most of the year. It now sits at 77.4 percent, 2.9 percentage points before its peak in January 2007 of 80.3 percent.

At its current rate of 77.4 percent, the prime-age EPOP is still below the lowest level of the last two full business cycles. And, it’s even further below its peak (81.9 percent) in the full employment economy of the late 1990s and 2000.

And the final, but arguably most important, indicator of labor market slack (particularly for the Federal Reserve’s upcoming meeting), is wage growth. Year over year nominal hourly wage growth is 2.3 percent, stubbornly weak and significantly below target levels. While it is likely that the Fed will raise rates next week, the evidence continues to suggest that waiting until the labor market tightens further would be a better course of action.