BLS JOLTS reported a 3.2% total nonfarm separations rate in August 2026, marked preliminary. Across September 2025 through August 2026, the seasonally adjusted monthly rate averaged 3.26%. The unrounded monthly rates sum to a rough annualized benchmark of 39.1%. Total separations include quits, layoffs, discharges, and other separations.
Across the 12 months ending August 2026, arts, entertainment, and recreation had the highest average monthly total separations rate among the industries in this comparison at 5.80%, or 69.6% annualized. Accommodation and food services followed at 5.42%, or 65.0% annualized.
Retail trade averaged a 4.03% monthly total separations rate from September 2025 through August 2026, equivalent to a rough 48.3% annualized benchmark. Its average monthly quit rate was 2.84% over the same period.
No. The total separations rate includes quits, layoffs, discharges, and other separations. The BLS quits rate is the closer measure of voluntary turnover. This page shows both so employers do not compare unlike definitions.
This page averages 12 seasonally adjusted monthly rates. For the annualized benchmark, it sums the original monthly rates, equivalent to multiplying the unrounded average by 12. It does not multiply the displayed rounded average. The result is not a count of unique people or an exact annual probability of leaving.
Get practical ideas
Open a ready-made prompt to summarize the article and apply it to your team.
This page compares employee turnover rates by industry using one consistent source and definition: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
The latest observations in our September 30, 2026 BLS API snapshot cover August 2026 and are preliminary. The main table averages the 12 seasonally adjusted monthly rates from September 2025 through August 2026, so one unusual month does not set the benchmark. It shows total separations and quits separately.
Employee turnover rates by industry
BLS JOLTS total separations, September 2025 through August 2026
The annualized benchmark sums the original monthly rates before rounding. It is a comparison tool, not an exact probability that one employee will leave within a year. The table below includes all sectors and the separate quit-rate comparison.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS, seasonally adjusted total separations rates. August 2026 values are preliminary.
Citation summary: BLS JOLTS data for September 2025 through August 2026 show arts, entertainment, and recreation averaging a 5.80% monthly total separations rate, followed by accommodation and food services at 5.42%. The total nonfarm average was 3.26%. Summing the original monthly rates gives rough annualized benchmarks of 69.6%, 65.0%, and 39.1%, respectively. These are US staffing-flow benchmarks, not percentages of unique employees who left.
Suggested citation: Turnozo, "Employee Turnover Rate by Industry: 2026 Data (BLS)," updated September 30, 2026. Calculated from BLS JOLTS seasonally adjusted monthly total separations and quits rates for September 2025 through August 2026. Download the source snapshot (JSON) to reproduce the figures.
10 quick turnover statistics
3.2%: preliminary total nonfarm separations rate in August 2026.
3.26%: average monthly total nonfarm separations rate across the 12 months ending August 2026.
39.1%: rough annualized total nonfarm benchmark, calculated from the unrounded monthly rates.
5.80%: average monthly total separations rate for arts, entertainment, and recreation, the highest figure in this comparison.
5.42%: average monthly total separations rate for accommodation and food services.
4.38%: average monthly rate for professional and business services.
4.03%: average monthly rate for retail trade, equivalent to 48.3% annualized.
2.35%: average monthly manufacturing rate, equivalent to 28.2% annualized.
1.95%: average monthly finance and insurance rate, equivalent to 23.4% annualized.
1.44%: average monthly government rate, equivalent to 17.3% annualized.
Turnover rates by industry
The "12-month average" columns use September 2025 through August 2026. The annualized column sums the original monthly total separations rates before rounding.
Industry
August 2026 total separations
12-month average
Annualized benchmark
12-month average quit rate
Arts, entertainment, and recreation
5.6%
5.80%
69.6%
2.26%
Accommodation and food services
4.9%
5.42%
65.0%
4.05%
Professional and business services
4.1%
4.38%
52.5%
2.09%
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities
3.5%
4.08%
49.0%
2.20%
Retail trade
4.4%
4.03%
48.3%
2.84%
Construction
3.2%
3.68%
44.2%
1.66%
Total private
3.5%
3.56%
42.7%
2.15%
Other services
3.9%
3.42%
41.0%
2.33%
Total nonfarm
3.2%
3.26%
39.1%
1.95%
Information
2.5%
2.98%
35.7%
1.19%
Health care and social assistance
3.0%
2.79%
33.5%
1.93%
Real estate and rental and leasing
1.9%
2.38%
28.5%
1.43%
Manufacturing
2.5%
2.35%
28.2%
1.40%
Wholesale trade
2.8%
2.33%
27.9%
1.43%
Private educational services
2.6%
2.27%
27.2%
1.30%
Finance and insurance
1.8%
1.95%
23.4%
1.11%
Government
1.3%
1.44%
17.3%
0.79%
August 2026 values are marked preliminary in the API. BLS can revise earlier observations too, so cite the retrieval date and window alongside a figure. Total private and total nonfarm are aggregates, not additional industries to add to the other rows.
What the industry comparison shows
Hospitality remains the clearest high-churn sector
Accommodation and food services averaged 5.42% total separations per month and 4.05% quits per month. Voluntary exits account for much of that movement.
That distinction matters. A high total separations rate can come from layoffs or seasonal staffing changes. A high quit rate points more directly to employees choosing to leave.
Retail: use the dated benchmark, not a fixed target
Retail trade averaged 4.03% total separations per month, or 48.3% annualized, across this 12-month window. The average quit rate was 2.84% per month.
Retail's rate was higher than manufacturing, finance, private education, or government in this window. Check the definition and dates before comparing it with another survey or your own store's annual turnover.
Manufacturing and finance are comparatively stable
Manufacturing averaged 2.35% monthly total separations, while finance and insurance averaged 1.95%. Their annualized benchmarks were 28.2% and 23.4%, respectively.
That does not mean every employer in those sectors should target the same rate. A plant, bank, insurance brokerage, and seasonal operation have different job mixes. It means their broad labor markets moved less than retail, hospitality, transportation, or professional and business services during this period.
Government remains the low-turnover baseline
Government averaged 1.44% total separations per month and a 0.79% quit rate. That is less than half the total nonfarm monthly average.
Total separations versus quits
“Turnover” is often used as if every source measures the same thing. It does not.
Total separations include quits, layoffs, discharges, retirements, transfers to other locations, deaths, and disability separations.
Quits are voluntary separations initiated by employees, excluding retirements and transfers.
Annual employer turnover may use departures divided by average headcount, but private surveys often differ on which departures count.
Retention rate measures who stayed, so it is related to turnover but not interchangeable with it.
For voluntary employee turnover, the quits column is the cleaner comparison. For total staffing movement and replacement workload, total separations are more useful.
Methodology and calculation notes
Source: BLS JOLTS seasonally adjusted rate series accessed through the BLS Public Data API.
Window: September 2025 through August 2026, the latest 12 monthly observations returned in our September 30, 2026 API retrieval.
12-month average: sum of the 12 monthly rates divided by 12.
Annualized benchmark: sum of the 12 original monthly rates, equivalent to the unrounded average multiplied by 12.
Rounding: monthly averages are shown to two decimals; annualized figures are shown to one decimal. Calculate each from the original values, not from an already rounded display. For example, retail's monthly rates sum to 48.3%; the average is 4.025%, displayed as 4.03%. Multiplying that displayed 4.03% by 12 would introduce rounding error.
Limit: this is not a count of unique employees. One role can turn over more than once in a year, and one person can appear in more than one monthly flow. Nor is it BLS's official annual-average rate: this is Turnozo's simple rolling calculation from seasonally adjusted monthly rates.
Scope: JOLTS covers US nonfarm employers. These figures should not be presented as global benchmarks.
Note
The annualized figures are comparison tools, not exact probabilities that one
employee will leave within a year. Use your own departures and average
headcount for company-level planning.
Turnozo calculation from the monthly BLS series above
Average of 12 observations; sum of original rates before rounding
Calculate your own turnover rate
Use your own workforce data before treating an industry benchmark as a target.
Company turnover rate = departures during the period ÷ average headcount × 100
If your business started the year with 48 employees and ended with 52, average headcount is 50. If 18 employees left, the company turnover rate is 36%.
Estimate annual turnover cost
Use your team size, actual annual turnover rate, and estimated replacement cost.
$60,000
/year in estimated turnover cost
At that rate, a team of 30 would plan for about 12departures per year. Replace the default cost with your own hiring, training, coverage, and ramp-up estimate.
An industry benchmark explains the labor market around you. It does not diagnose why your employees leave.
Start with exit reasons, tenure at departure, location, role, manager, and schedule stability. If last-minute changes, poor availability matching, or difficult shift swaps keep appearing, those are operational problems you can work on.
Turnozo helps small teams publish schedules to employees' phones, collect availability, manage shift swaps and open shifts, and turn clock-in data into timesheets. It will not fix pay, management, or career progression. It can make the weekly schedule less chaotic.
