United States Job Offers

Last Release

Sep 30, 2024

Actual

7,443

Units In

Thousand

7,861

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Dec 03, 2024

Time to Release

1 Months 2 Days 22 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
11,549 Mar 2022	2,232 Jul 2009	5,386.66 Thousand	2000-2024	U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

In the United States, job openings refer to all positions that are open (not filled) on the last business day of the month. Job openings are part of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The survey collects data from around 16400 nonfarm establishments including retailers and manufacturers, as well as federal, state, and local government entities in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The JOLTS assesses the unmet demand for labor in the U.S. labor market and gained attention in 2014 as favorite labor market indicator of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Latest Updates

The number of job openings fell by 418,000 to 7.443 million in September 2024 from a downwardly revised 7.861 million in August and below market expectations of 7.99 million. It is the lowest level since January 2021, indicating the labor market is cooling. Job openings decreased in health care and social assistance, and government. The number of job openings decreased in health care and social assistance (-178,000); state and local government, excluding education (-79,000); and federal government (-28,000) but increased in finance and insurance (+85,000). Regarding regional distribution, job openings dropped in the South (-325,000), in the West (-63,000), in the Midwest (-24,000) and in the Northeast (-8,000). Meanwhile, the number of hires and total separations changed little at 5.6 million and 5.2 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (3.1 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.8 million) changed little.