Want to leave 2025 in the past? Too bad, we’re looking at November labor turnover data today.

The labor market in November churned about as smoothly as bread dough that’s been kneaded for too long—that is to say, not much at all. Job openings and hires declined again, while total separations remained largely unchanged, per the latest JOLTS data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For HR leaders, it’s yet another sign that they will have to get creative with their talent strategies in 2026 amid a changing labor market.

Diving into the data. Employers had 7.1 million job openings posted at the end of November. Postings that month were down from 7.4 million in October, and declined by 885,000 over the prior year. Openings declined across most sectors except retail trade, which grew 121,000 from October, and construction, up 90,000. Leisure and hospitality posted 160,000 fewer openings between October and November, the steepest monthly drop of any sector, followed by accommodation and food services, down 148,000.

Total hires also declined in November, down to 5.1 million that month compared to 5.4 million in October. Overall, hires were down 192,000 year over year in November. At the same time, layoffs and discharges fell to 1.7 million in November, down from 1.9 million the previous month. After September and October’s spike in job openings, November’s further turnover stagnation suggested that the “no hire, no fire” labor market isn’t going away soon.

“Coming into this, I was really looking for any sign of traction in hiring, even a modest improvement, and we’re just not seeing that,” Elizabeth Crofoot, principal economist at Lightcast, told HR Brew. Given the robust consumer spending and GDP growth in the US in late 2025, Crofoot questioned how long that could remain at odds with the cooling labor market. “If companies aren’t hiring and if opportunities are falling because those job openings aren’t there, how much longer can the labor market hold on to that tension?”

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