April 10, 2025
Michigan’s job openings rate was stagnant in the latest release of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The quits rate also remained the same in January. Both the hires rate and unemployed persons to job openings ratio grew while the separations rate, turnover rate, and layoffs/discharges rate declined.
There were roughly 200,000 job openings in Michigan in January, a small bump from the month prior (197,000). Despite this increase, the job openings rate, a measure of job openings as a percentage of employment, remained at 4.2 percent. Michigan recorded the ninth lowest among other states and was below the national openings rate (4.6 percent).
Source: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The unemployed persons to job openings ratio increased for the third consecutive month, registering 1.34 in January. Michigan was significantly above the national ratio (0.88) and ranked as the second highest among states. This was the ninth month Michigan recorded a ratio above one, indicating that there have been more individuals available to work than job openings for the past nine months. Notably, this was Michigan’s highest ratio since December 2020 (1.50).
Source: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The labor turnover rate, a combination of the separations rate and hires rate, dropped to 6.9 percent (-0.2 percentage points). As a result, Michigan fell to 31st among other states. Despite this decline, Michigan’s labor turnover rate remained above the national rate in January (6.7 percent).
Michigan’s hires rate, a measure of hires as a percentage of employment, grew marginally to 3.7 percent, a 0.1 percentage point increase from the month prior. This came as a result of approximately 4,000 more individuals being hired in January (165,000) than in December (161,000). Michigan was 18th highest among other states and above the national hires rate (3.4 percent).
Roughly 13,000 fewer individuals separated from their jobs in January (146,000) than in December (159,000). As a result, the separations rate, a measure of separations as a percent of employment, fell to 3.2 percent (-0.3 percentage points). Michigan had the 10th lowest separations rate among states and was below the national rate (3.3 percent).
The driving force in the decline in separations was a fall in one of its components, layoffs/discharges. Layoffs/discharges, a measure of involuntary separations, fell to 56,000 in January (-10,000). This resulted in a 0.3 percentage point drop in the layoffs/discharges rate (1.2 percent). The quits rate, a measure of quits as a percentage of employment and the other component of separations, was recorded at 1.9 percent for the second consecutive month.
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