JOLTS Job Openings rose to 6.94 million in January, beating expectations
- The number of Job Openings on the last business day of January stood at 6.94 million, higher than the 6.55 million in December.
- Both hires and total separations were little changed, at 5.3 and 5.1 million, respectively.
The number of job openings in the US was little changed at 6.94 million in January, while for December it was revised upward to 6.55 million from the 6.54 million previously reported, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) on Friday. The print was higher than the market's forecast of 6.7 million job openings.
“In January, the number and rate of hires were unchanged at 5.3 million and 3.3%, respectively. Hires decreased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-67K). (...) The number and rate of total separations in January were little changed at 5.1 million and 3.2%, respectively.”
Additional information indicates that: “The number of job openings for December was revised upwards by 8K to 6.6 million, the number of hires was revised down by 21K to 5.3 million, and the number of total separations was revised down by 48K to 5.2 million. Within separations, the number of quits was revised up by 21K to 3.2 million, the number of layoffs and discharges was revised down by 96K to 1.7 million.
Market reaction to JOLTS Job Openings data
The US Dollar Index (DXY) is trading near the 100.00 level, receding from 100.30 earlier in the American session.
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the British Pound.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.37% | 0.55% | -0.03% | 0.43% | 0.53% | 0.46% | 0.27% | |
| EUR | -0.37% | 0.17% | -0.38% | 0.06% | 0.15% | 0.08% | -0.10% | |
| GBP | -0.55% | -0.17% | -0.59% | -0.11% | -0.02% | -0.10% | -0.27% | |
| JPY | 0.03% | 0.38% | 0.59% | 0.48% | 0.56% | 0.48% | 0.31% | |
| CAD | -0.43% | -0.06% | 0.11% | -0.48% | 0.08% | -0.01% | -0.16% | |
| AUD | -0.53% | -0.15% | 0.02% | -0.56% | -0.08% | -0.07% | -0.25% | |
| NZD | -0.46% | -0.08% | 0.10% | -0.48% | 0.01% | 0.07% | -0.18% | |
| CHF | -0.27% | 0.10% | 0.27% | -0.31% | 0.16% | 0.25% | 0.18% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
Author
Agustin Wazne
FXStreet
Agustin Wazne joined FXStreet as a Junior News Editor, focusing on Commodities and covering Majors.
