US job openings increased a tad in December, but 'quits' rate dips

The number of job openings in the US increased a little at the end of 2021, even as hiring and voluntary separations dipped.

According to the US Department of Labor, job openings grew at a month-on-month pace of about 1.4% to reach 10.775m.

Hiring on the other hand decreased by 5.0% in comparison to January to approximately 6.26m and voluntary separations or so-called 'quits' declined by 3.6% to about 5.9m.

The quits rate, which measures voluntary separations as a proportion of the total number of separations in the economy, fell from 3.0% to 2.9%.