Here come JOLTS...

The latest reading on jobs openings in the US will be out at 10 a.m. ET via the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS.

Economists forecast that openings totaled 5.580 million in December, according to the Bloomberg consensus.

The prior month saw openings totaling 5.522 million, rising from a downwardly revised tally of 5.451 million.

The JOLTS report touches on how many opportunities are available as well as the pace of layoffs and resignations in the US labor market.

Additionally, the JOLTS report also includes the quits rate, which is one of the labor-market indicators favored by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. The previous report saw the quits rate hold at 2.1% for the sixth straight month, near the highest level since the recession.

Notably, although the word "quit" often comes with a slew of negative connotations, a higher quits rate actually sends a message about rising worker confidence in the labor market.

The thinking here is that during good economic times, people feel comfortable quitting a job because they believe they can find another quickly or because they have already found another one. On the flip side, when there are layoffs during economic downturns, few are bold enough to risk jumping ship.

Taking that idea one step further, some economists have pointed out that the quits rate tends as a leading indicator of wage growth.

In any case, refresh this page for updates at 10 a.m. ET.