What is JOLTS report in fundamental analysis?

JOLTS (Job Openings & Labor Turnover Summary) is an American data survey that tells us the number of job vacancies and job resignation/separation for a given month in the United States nonfarm sector.

Simply put, it tells us how many nonfarm job vacancies were available, what percentage of applicants were hired to fill the vacancies (hiring rate), and the resignations/separations that led to these vacancies.

If the number of job vacancies for a month increases with respect to that of the last month, it is a good sign, but the hiring rate should also increase. Look at it this way, if the hiring rate drops, it could mean people are not willing to take the jobs or the companies are just advertising the jobs but not willing to employ people.

If the JOLTS report is good (meaning more job vacancies and increased hiring rate etc.) we can expect the nonfarm payroll report to be good also. So, the JOLTS report is an indicator of what to expect when nonfarm payroll is released.