The JOLTS report explained: job openings, quits and layoffs
What JOLTS stands for, who publishes it, when it comes out, what job openings, hires, quits and layoffs say about the economy, and how markets react.
The jobs report tells you how many people were hired. JOLTS tells you the other side: how many jobs companies are trying to fill, how many people quit, and how many were laid off. It's the best monthly read on how much businesses want workers.
What JOLTS stands for
JOLTS means Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. It's published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the same agency behind the jobs report and CPI. Each month it surveys about 21,000 businesses and government offices across the United States.
When it comes out
| Published by | Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) |
| How often | Monthly |
| Time | 10:00 a.m. New York time |
| Covers | The month before last (it runs about a month behind the jobs report) |
| Usually | Early in the month, often the same week as the jobs report |
What it measures
- Job openings: positions that are open on the last business day of the month and that the employer is actively trying to fill. This is the headline number.
- Hires: everyone added to payrolls during the month.
- Quits: people who left their jobs by choice. A high quits rate means workers are confident they can find something better, which tends to push wages up.
- Layoffs and discharges: people let go by their employer. A rise is an early warning of a weakening economy.
Watch the openings per unemployed person. When there are many more openings than people looking, wages and inflation tend to rise.
How to read it
- Compare with expectations: economists forecast job openings, and the surprise is what moves markets.
- Look at the trend: JOLTS is revised and can bounce month to month. Three months in one direction says more than one.
- Quits often matter more than openings for inflation, because they track wage pressure.
- It's older data: it describes the month before last, so the more recent jobs report usually carries more weight.
Every market it moves
This report doesn't only move futures. Here is what usually happens across markets in the first minutes and hours, compared with what economists expected. The ticker symbols in parentheses are the futures contracts traders use for each market.
| Market | Stronger job market than expected | Weaker job market than expected |
|---|---|---|
| Stock indexes: S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow, Russell 2000 (ES, NQ, YM, RTY) | Mixed: a healthy economy, but fewer rate cuts. When inflation is the worry, stocks often dip. | Mixed: rate cuts come closer, but a sharp drop raises recession fears |
| Treasury bonds (ZT, ZN, ZB) | Prices fall and yields rise, the 2-year most | Prices rise and yields fall |
| U.S. dollar and currencies (DXY; EUR/USD, USD/JPY, USD/MXN; 6E, 6J) | The dollar usually rises | The dollar usually falls |
| Gold and silver (GC, SI) | Usually fall | Usually rise |
| Crude oil (CL) | Little direct effect; a slight lift from a stronger economy | Little direct effect |
| Bitcoin and crypto | Usually fall on fewer rate cuts | Usually rise, unless recession fears take over |
| Rate expectations (fed funds futures, ZQ) | Fewer or later rate cuts priced in | More or sooner rate cuts priced in |
These are the usual first reactions, not rules. When the market fears a slowdown more than inflation, good news can become bad news for stocks, and the other way around. Watch how prices actually react before acting on the number. The dollar, oil and gold and bonds and yields explained go deeper into how these markets connect.
What it means for futures traders
- A 10:00 a.m. release, half an hour into the stock market session, so the move hits during regular trading.
- Usually a medium-sized move, bigger when the market is focused on the job market or when it lands in the days before the jobs report.
- It sometimes shares 10:00 a.m. with other reports, like ISM. Check the calendar for stacked releases.
How to handle it
If you trade the open, plan to be out or tightened up before 10:00 a.m. on JOLTS days. The jobs report (NFP) explained covers the bigger report that usually follows a few days later. Market Matrix shows JOLTS on the Market events calendar with an alert you can set.
This article is for education only and isn't financial advice. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss. Release dates and times come from the agencies that publish the data and can change.