RICHMOND— Virginia Works (the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement) announced today that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ April 2025 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reports an increase in hiring as well as an increase in layoffs and discharges.
The number of hires in Virginia was 142,000 in April, up by 6,000 from March’s revised figure and 73 percent higher than the low set in April 2020. JOLTS defines hires as all additions to the payroll during the month. In April, the number of U.S. hires was little changed at 5.6 million. In Virginia, the 3.3 percent hires rate was little changed over the month. The U.S. rate of hires nationwide was also little changed at 3.5 percent.
On the last business day in April, there were 199,000 job openings in Virginia, seasonally adjusted, a decrease of 19,000 from March’s revised figure. Job openings fell by 21 percent from April 2024’s figure but remained comparable to pre-pandemic levels. Nationwide, the number of job openings was little changed at 7.4 million in April. The number of U.S. job openings decreased in accommodation and food services (-135,000) and in state and local government, education (-51,000). The number of U.S. job openings increased in arts, entertainment, and recreation (+43,000) and in mining and logging (+10,000).
The Virginia hires-per-job-openings (HPJO) ratio rose to seven hires for every ten job openings, comparable to nationwide. This measure shows the rate of hiring compared to open jobs and is a proxy for time to fill positions. In April 2025, there were 0.8 unemployed per job opening in the Commonwealth, compared to one unemployed per job opening nationwide.
According to the most recent BLS JOLTS survey data, April total job separations in Virginia increased by 25,000 to 152,000. BLS’s JOLTS data provide information on all the components that make up the net change in the number of jobs over a month, including job openings, hires, layoffs, voluntary quits, and other job separations (including retirements and worker deaths). Together, these components attempt 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.
The Virginia job openings rate fell to 4.5 percent. Nationwide, the job openings rate, at 4.4 percent, changed little over the month.
Total job separations in Virginia increased by 25,000 to 152,000. Nationwide, the number of total separations in April was little changed at 5.3 million. Total U.S. separations increased in federal government (+9,000). The Virginia total separations rate rebounded to March’s 3.6 percent. Nationwide, the rate of total separations in February was unchanged at 3.3 percent.
The quits rate in the Commonwealth was 1.8 percent. An estimated 78,000 workers quit jobs (‘quits’) from Virginia employers in March, a decrease of 11,000 over the month. Nationwide in April, the number of quits was little changed at 3.2 million. Over the month, the U.S. quits rate was little changed at 2.0 percent. The April ‘churn’ rate (the sum of the hires and total separations rates) in Virginia rebounded by 0.7 of a percentage point from March’s revised 6.2 percent figure and was driven by an increase in layoffs and separations. It was equivalent to the U.S. churn rate of 6.8 percent, which was little changed over the month.
The number of layoffs and discharges in Virginia was 65,000 in April, an increase of 31,000 from March’s revised estimate. This was up by half over the year and rose to its highest level in over a year. In April, the number of U.S. layoffs and discharges was little changed at 1.8 million. U.S. layoffs and discharges increased in health care and social assistance (+52,000) but decreased in state and local government, excluding education (-14,000) and in federal government (-4,000). The Virginia layoffs and discharges rate rose to 1.5 percent.
On the last business day of April, JOLTS data indicated a growing rate of job separations, driven by a rebound in layoffs from March’s low level. As a result, job quits fell back to 51 percent of total job separations.
| 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 the following three conditions: (1) A specific position exists and there is work available for that position; the position can be full time or part time, and it can be permanent, short term, or seasonal; (2) the job could start within 30 days, whether or not the employer can find a suitable candidate during that time; and (3) the employer is actively recruiting workers from outside the establishment to fill the position. Excluded are positions open only to internal transfers, promotions or demotions, or recalls from layoffs. Hires Hires include all additions to the payroll during the entire reference month, including newly hired and rehired employees; full-time and part-time employees; permanent, short-term, and seasonal employees; employees who were recalled to a job at the location following a layoff (formal suspension from pay status) lasting more than 7 days; on-call or intermittent employees who returned to work after having been formally separated; workers who were hired and separated during the month; and transfers from other locations. Excluded are transfers or promotions within the reporting location, employees returning from a strike, and employees of temporary help agencies, employee leasing companies, outside contractors, or consultants. Separations Separations include all separations from the payroll during the entire reference month and are 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, including layoffs with no intent to rehire; layoffs (formal suspensions from pay status) lasting or expected to last more than 7 days; discharges resulting from mergers, downsizing, or closings; firings or other discharges for cause; terminations of permanent or short-term employees; and terminations of seasonal employees (whether or not they are expected to return the next season). Other separations include retirements, transfers to other locations, separations due to employee disability, and deaths. Excluded are transfers within the same location, employees on strike, and employees of temporary help agencies, employee leasing companies, outside contractors, or consultants. *Excerpted from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Handbook of Methods, “Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey: Concepts,” https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/jlt/concepts.htm. |
Virginia Works plans to release the May 2025 analysis of the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for Virginia on Friday July 25, 2025. The data for all states and the U.S. will be available on the BLS website JOLTS page, at https://www.bls.gov/jlt/. BLS is scheduled to release the May JOLTS data for states on Wednesday July 23, 2025.
Technical note: Effective with the release of May 2025 data, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) state estimates will be benchmarked and revised to include the annual benchmark revisions to JOLTS national estimates, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) employment estimates, and the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data. Seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted data from January 2019 forward are subject to revision. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) produces monthly data on U.S. and regional job openings, hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations from a sample of approximately 21,000 establishments. For more information on the program’s concepts and methodology, see “Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey: Handbook of Methods” (Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 13, 2020), https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/jlt/home.htm. For more information on BLS’ state JOLTS estimates, see https://www.bls.gov/jlt/jlt_statedata.htm. Definitions of JOLTS terms*
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