The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program produces data on job openings, hires, and separations: “There were 3.4 million job openings on the last business day of April, down from 3.7 million in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported [June 19, 2012]. The hires rate (3.1 percent) and separations rate (3.1 percent) were essentially unchanged in April. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by industry and by geographic region. Job Openings: ” The number of job openings in April was 3.4 million, a decline from March. Job openings decreased for total nonfarm, total private, and government as well as in manufacturing, professional and business services, and state and local government. The number of openings also decreased in April for the Midwest region. Although the number of total nonfarm job openings declined in April, the number of openings was 1.0 million higher than at the end of the recession in June 2009.”