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Number of unemployed people per job opening 1.0 or fewer since January 2018
December 31, 2019
There were 7.3 million job openings on the last business day of October 2019 and about 5.9 million unemployed people during October. This yielded a ratio of unemployed people to job openings of 0.8 for October. Since January 2018, the number of unemployed people per job opening has ranged between 0.8 and 1.0.
Number of unemployed people per job opening, January 2009–October 2019
Month
Number of unemployed people per job opening
Number of unemployed
Number of job openings
Jan 2009
4.4
12,058,000
2,731,000
Feb 2009
4.5
12,898,000
2,838,000
Mar 2009
5.3
13,426,000
2,521,000
Apr 2009
5.9
13,853,000
2,343,000
May 2009
5.6
14,499,000
2,574,000
Jun 2009
5.8
14,707,000
2,517,000
Jul 2009
6.4
14,601,000
2,264,000
Aug 2009
6.3
14,814,000
2,365,000
Sep 2009
6.0
15,009,000
2,481,000
Oct 2009
6.3
15,352,000
2,422,000
Nov 2009
6.3
15,219,000
2,435,000
Dec 2009
6.1
15,098,000
2,487,000
Jan 2010
5.3
15,046,000
2,833,000
Feb 2010
5.7
15,113,000
2,651,000
Mar 2010
5.7
15,202,000
2,679,000
Apr 2010
4.8
15,325,000
3,217,000
May 2010
4.9
14,849,000
3,019,000
Jun 2010
5.1
14,474,000
2,813,000
Jul 2010
4.6
14,512,000
3,127,000
Aug 2010
4.8
14,648,000
3,025,000
Sep 2010
5.0
14,579,000
2,912,000
Oct 2010
4.5
14,516,000
3,256,000
Nov 2010
4.8
15,081,000
3,134,000
Dec 2010
4.8
14,348,000
2,969,000
Jan 2011
4.5
14,013,000
3,100,000
Feb 2011
4.3
13,820,000
3,213,000
Mar 2011
4.2
13,737,000
3,253,000
Apr 2011
4.2
13,957,000
3,337,000
May 2011
4.3
13,855,000
3,207,000
Jun 2011
4.0
13,962,000
3,467,000
Jul 2011
3.7
13,763,000
3,676,000
Aug 2011
4.1
13,818,000
3,358,000
Sep 2011
3.7
13,948,000
3,763,000
Oct 2011
3.7
13,594,000
3,650,000
Nov 2011
3.8
13,302,000
3,485,000
Dec 2011
3.6
13,093,000
3,662,000
Jan 2012
3.3
12,797,000
3,904,000
Feb 2012
3.6
12,813,000
3,605,000
Mar 2012
3.2
12,713,000
3,976,000
Apr 2012
3.3
12,646,000
3,878,000
May 2012
3.3
12,660,000
3,861,000
Jun 2012
3.2
12,692,000
3,916,000
Jul 2012
3.3
12,656,000
3,790,000
Aug 2012
3.2
12,471,000
3,839,000
Sep 2012
3.1
12,115,000
3,861,000
Oct 2012
3.2
12,124,000
3,808,000
Nov 2012
3.2
12,005,000
3,787,000
Dec 2012
3.2
12,298,000
3,840,000
Jan 2013
3.2
12,471,000
3,915,000
Feb 2013
3.0
11,950,000
3,981,000
Mar 2013
2.9
11,689,000
4,080,000
Apr 2013
2.9
11,760,000
4,078,000
May 2013
2.8
11,654,000
4,173,000
Jun 2013
2.8
11,751,000
4,166,000
Jul 2013
2.9
11,335,000
3,946,000
Aug 2013
2.7
11,279,000
4,112,000
Sep 2013
2.7
11,270,000
4,105,000
Oct 2013
2.6
11,136,000
4,268,000
Nov 2013
2.7
10,787,000
4,002,000
Dec 2013
2.6
10,404,000
3,996,000
Jan 2014
2.5
10,202,000
4,131,000
Feb 2014
2.4
10,349,000
4,347,000
Mar 2014
2.4
10,380,000
4,388,000
Apr 2014
2.1
9,702,000
4,662,000
May 2014
2.1
9,859,000
4,775,000
Jun 2014
1.9
9,460,000
4,999,000
Jul 2014
2.0
9,608,000
4,919,000
Aug 2014
1.8
9,599,000
5,383,000
Sep 2014
1.9
9,262,000
4,876,000
Oct 2014
1.8
8,990,000
5,066,000
Nov 2014
1.9
9,090,000
4,719,000
Dec 2014
1.8
8,717,000
4,981,000
Jan 2015
1.7
8,903,000
5,377,000
Feb 2015
1.6
8,610,000
5,410,000
Mar 2015
1.6
8,504,000
5,223,000
Apr 2015
1.5
8,526,000
5,726,000
May 2015
1.6
8,814,000
5,587,000
Jun 2015
1.6
8,249,000
5,259,000
Jul 2015
1.3
8,194,000
6,147,000
Aug 2015
1.4
7,990,000
5,517,000
Sep 2015
1.4
7,892,000
5,450,000
Oct 2015
1.4
7,918,000
5,846,000
Nov 2015
1.4
7,995,000
5,564,000
Dec 2015
1.4
7,916,000
5,678,000
Jan 2016
1.3
7,749,000
5,977,000
Feb 2016
1.4
7,771,000
5,747,000
Mar 2016
1.3
7,932,000
6,151,000
Apr 2016
1.4
7,928,000
5,872,000
May 2016
1.3
7,626,000
5,775,000
Jun 2016
1.3
7,795,000
5,778,000
Jul 2016
1.3
7,700,000
6,088,000
Aug 2016
1.4
7,817,000
5,720,000
Sep 2016
1.4
7,933,000
5,828,000
Oct 2016
1.4
7,819,000
5,616,000
Nov 2016
1.3
7,480,000
5,862,000
Dec 2016
1.3
7,503,000
5,831,000
Jan 2017
1.3
7,565,000
5,624,000
Feb 2017
1.3
7,437,000
5,875,000
Mar 2017
1.2
7,078,000
5,848,000
Apr 2017
1.1
7,019,000
6,157,000
May 2017
1.2
6,991,000
5,821,000
Jun 2017
1.1
6,948,000
6,371,000
Jul 2017
1.1
6,927,000
6,349,000
Aug 2017
1.1
7,115,000
6,352,000
Sep 2017
1.1
6,791,000
6,256,000
Oct 2017
1.0
6,588,000
6,405,000
Nov 2017
1.1
6,682,000
6,163,000
Dec 2017
1.1
6,572,000
6,204,000
Jan 2018
1.0
6,641,000
6,591,000
Feb 2018
1.0
6,687,000
6,530,000
Mar 2018
0.9
6,486,000
6,894,000
Apr 2018
0.9
6,335,000
7,106,000
May 2018
0.9
6,128,000
7,126,000
Jun 2018
0.9
6,537,000
7,393,000
Jul 2018
0.8
6,245,000
7,442,000
Aug 2018
0.8
6,197,000
7,342,000
Sep 2018
0.8
5,986,000
7,392,000
Oct 2018
0.8
6,112,000
7,593,000
Nov 2018
0.8
6,018,000
7,626,000
Dec 2018
0.8
6,294,000
7,479,000
Jan 2019
0.9
6,535,000
7,625,000
Feb 2019
0.9
6,235,000
7,142,000
Mar 2019
0.8
6,211,000
7,474,000
Apr 2019
0.8
5,824,000
7,372,000
May 2019
0.8
5,888,000
7,384,000
Jun 2019
0.8
5,975,000
7,248,000
Jul 2019
0.8
6,063,000
7,174,000
Aug 2019
0.8
6,044,000
7,301,000
Sep 2019
0.8
5,769,000
7,032,000
Oct 2019
0.8
5,855,000
7,267,000
Since 2009, the ratio of unemployed people per job opening has ranged from 0.8 during 2018 and 2019 to 6.4 in July 2009, a month after the end of the most recent recession.
United States Department of Labor
