KANSAS CITY – The Mountain-Plains Information Office of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics today released Missouri Job Openings and Labor Turnover – January 2025. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted these Missouri highlights:
- Missouri had 165,000 job openings in January, compared to 169,000 job openings in December.
- The job openings rate for Missouri was 5.2 percent in January and 5.3 percent the previous month. Nationally, the job openings rate was 4.6 percent in January and 4.5 percent in December. (See chart 1.)
- The ratio of unemployed persons per job opening in Missouri was 0.7, which was less than the national ratio of 0.9.
The ratio of unemployed persons per job opening in Missouri was 0.7 in January. Nationwide, 32 states and the District of Columbia had ratios in January that were lower than the national measure of 0.9 unemployed persons per job opening; 11 states had ratios that were higher than the national ratio, and 7 states had ratios equal to the national measure. (See map 1.)
In January, Missouri had 95,000 hires and 99,000 separations, compared to 96,000 hires and 90,000 separations in December. (See chart 2.) Over the 12 months ending in January, hires have averaged 100,000 per month and separations have averaged 101,000 per month. These averages include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.
Among the January separations in Missouri, 62,000 were quits and 30,000 were layoffs and discharges, compared to 57,000 quits and 26,000 layoffs and discharges in December. (See chart 3.) Over the 12 months ending in January, quits averaged 66,000 per month, ranging from 57,000 to 76,000. Layoffs and discharges have averaged 28,000 per month, ranging from 21,000 to 36,000.
Job Openings. Job openings include all positions that are open on the last business day of the reference month. A job is open only if it meets all three of these conditions:
A specific position exists and there is work available for that position.
The job could start within 30 days.
The employer is actively recruiting workers from outside the establishment to fill the position.
The number of unemployed persons per job opening is a ratio of the level of unemployed persons and the level of job openings. The number of unemployed persons at the national level is an estimate from the Current Population Survey (CPS), while state-level unemployment estimates are modeled by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program. A ratio of 1.0 means there is a job available for every unemployed person. Lower ratios signal tighter labor markets, where firms have more job openings than there are unemployed persons available to work. Higher ratios indicate there are more unemployed persons competing for each job opening.
Hires. Hires include all additions to the payroll during the entire reference month.
Separations. Separations include all separations from the payroll during the entire reference month and is reported by type of separation: quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations.
Quits include employees who left voluntarily, except for retirements or transfers to other locations.
Layoffs and discharges include involuntary separations initiated by the employer.
Other separations include retirements, transfers to other locations, separations due to employee disability, and deaths.
Levels and rates of other separations represent a small portion of total separations and are not published with the release of state estimates.
