<p>The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS rather than BoLS) publishes the results of its <a href="https://www.bls.gov/jlt/home.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey</a> (JOLTS)</p>

<p>For example, its <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">summary news release</a> for May 2018, published on July 10, started with:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The number of job openings edged down to 6.6 million on the last business day of May, the U.S. Bureau 
  of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and separations were little changed at 5.8 
  million and 5.5 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate and the layoffs and discharges 
  rate were little changed at 2.4 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. This release includes estimates of 
  the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by industry and by 
  four geographic regions.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-24T21:42:49.803Z
2018-07-24T21:42:49.803Z
Henry
<p>Is there a statistic that describes the “churn” in the unemployment rate i.e. how many became unemployed compared to how many found work? </p>

<p>I’ve heard of unemployment volatility (<a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/03068291211224937" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/03068291211224937</a>) but never could find any stat for it in the U.S.</p>

<p>For a better idea of what I’m talking about, here is an article written about it in India: <a href="https://www.cmie.com/kommon/bin/sr.php?kall=warticle&amp;dt=2017-10-31%2009:43:08&amp;msec=273" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.cmie.com/kommon/bin/sr.php?kall=warticle&amp;dt=2017-10-31%2009:43:08&amp;msec=273</a></p>

<p>Does the BoLS track this metric?</p>

<labor-economics>
Unemployment Rate Volatility
Brandon Bradley
# Unemployment Rate Volatility

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-24)

Is there a statistic that describes the “churn” in the unemployment rate i.e. how many became unemployed compared to how many found work?

I’ve heard of unemployment volatility (<https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/03068291211224937>) but never could find any stat for it in the U.S.

For a better idea of what I’m talking about, here is an article written about it in India: <https://www.cmie.com/kommon/bin/sr.php?kall=warticle&dt=2017-10-31%2009:43:08&msec=273>

Does the BoLS track this metric?

**Tags:** labor-economics

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-07-24. Score: 2

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS rather than BoLS) publishes the results of its [Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey](https://www.bls.gov/jlt/home.htm) (JOLTS)

For example, its [summary news release](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm) for May 2018, published on July 10, started with:

> The number of job openings edged down to 6.6 million on the last business day of May, the U.S. Bureau
> of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and separations were little changed at 5.8
> million and 5.5 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate and the layoffs and discharges
> rate were little changed at 2.4 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. This release includes estimates of
> the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by industry and by
> four geographic regions.


---

