Virginia job hires lower in June 2024 compared to previous year, according to survey

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The number of job hires in Virginia decreased by 33,000 over the month of June, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

In a Tuesday, Aug. 20 press release by the Virginia Employment Commission, a BLS JOLTS report announced by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement showed the ability to fill open positions in the state had weakened over the month of June.

According to the commission, BLS JOLTS data provides information on all the pieces that go into the net change in the number of jobs, including job openings, hires, layoffs, voluntary quits and other job separations, which includes retirements and worker deaths. The survey puts these components together to reveal the overall change in payroll employment.

JOLTS data is seasonally adjusted and describes conditions on the last business day of the month. Current month’s data are preliminary and the previous month’s data have been revised, according to the commission.

According to the most recent BLS JOLTS survey data, the number of hires in Virginia fell to 147,000 in June, a decrease of 33,000 over the month and down by 39,000 from June 2023. JOLTS defines hires as all additions to the payroll during the month.

The number of hires was 45% lower than the series high of 267,000 set in June 2020. In Virginia, the 3.4% hires rate decreased from May’s revised 4.2% rate, according to the report.

According to the survey, the Virginia hires-per-job-openings ratio, which shows the rate of hiring compared to open jobs and is a proxy for time to fill positions, edged down from May.

However, on the last business day of June, Virginia’s labor market conditions moved closer to pre-pandemic conditions as the pace of movement from job to job slowed to 2020 levels, according to the commission.

This was driven by low numbers of layoffs compared to before the pandemic combined with fewer workers quitting in June.

According to the survey, an estimated 85,000 workers quit jobs from Virginia employers in June. The number of quits decreased 18,000 from May’s revised figure, which was lower by 22% over-the-year and 7% lower than five years earlier. Quits, a component of total separations, are voluntary separations initiated by the employee.

The number of layoffs and discharges in Virginia was 44,000 in June, which was unchanged from May. This was also unchanged over the year but down by nearly a third from five years earlier, according to the report.

At the same time, job openings remained buoyant in Virginia. However, nationwide, the federal government job openings rate fell to its lowest level since February 2021, which may have been felt by Northern Virginia job seekers, according to the commission.

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