Total job openings fell by -556k to 7.60 million in December, below expectations of a smaller decline to 8.00 million.

• Total private job openings fell -548k to 6.72 million which translates to a substantial -0.4 ppts decline in the job openings rate to 4.7%.
• Total hires increased just 89k to 5.46 million, and total separations increased just 38k to 5.27 million. indicating that trends in hiring and firing have stagnated.

• Total quits increased 67k to 3.20 million with the quits rate unchanged at 2.0%. Layoffs actually fell -29k to 1.77 million.

• The construction industry job openings rate has fallen -2.6 ppts over the last year to 2.0%.
• Non-seasonally adjusted federal government job openings totaled 132k and are likely to fall in January data.