Job Openings and Labor Turnover, June 2025
By Lainey Stalnaker, Data Analytics Writer
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), released monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), provides essential information on South Carolina’s labor market [1]. In June of 2025, South Carolina’s unemployed persons per job openings remained unchanged at 0.7, which was below the national average of 0.9.
The table below compares unemployed persons per job opening ratios in the Southeast Region[2]. Three states in the region, including South Carolina, recorded lower job opening ratios in June of 2025 than in June of 2024.
Regional Job Openings ratios
KY
TN
NC
SC
GA
FL
AL
MS
1.0
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.9
0.7
0.8
0.9
0.7
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.6
Other key statistics released in the monthly JOLTS report include:
- Job openings rate: the number of positions open during the month as a percentage of all jobs and job openings.
- Hires rate: the number of people hired during the month as a percentage of total employment.
- Separations rate: the number of people separated from their jobs during the month as a percentage of total employment. The quits rate is the proportion of people who voluntarily left their jobs, and the layoffs and discharges rate is the proportion of people who involuntarily left their jobs, which may have resulted from business closures, layoffs, downsizing, or firing for cause. Separations resulting from retirements, transfers, or deaths are included in the total separations rate.
JOLTS Key Ratio Statistics, JUNE 2025 (%)
KY
TN
NC
SC
GA
FL
AL
MS
4.8
5.1
5.6
5.6
5.4
4.5
4.9
5.1
3.6
3.8
3.1
4.0
3.0
3.4
3.3
3.4
3.3
3.6
3.4
3.5
2.7
2.9
3.0
3.3
1.9
2.1
2.1
2.2
1.6
2.0
1.8
2.3
1.3
1.3
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.7
0.9
0.9
In June 2025, South Carolina tied for highest job openings rate in the region at 5.6 percent. The rate was also 5.6 percent in May, up from 4.9 percent in April. South Carolina also had the highest hires rate in the region at 4.0 percent, which suggests, especially when taken together with the openings rate, that job opportunities are more plentiful in South Carolina than elsewhere in the Southeast.
South Carolina additionally had the second highest quits rate regionally. Increased rates of job openings and hiring mean that workers separated from employment may be more likely to find a new position, which could explain the slightly elevated quits rate. Overall, job turnover appears higher in South Carolina than in other parts of the Southeast.
1 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jltst.nr0.htm
2 The Southeast Region is defined by the Department of Labor and includes Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.