1.4 unemployed people for each job opening in December 2015
February 18, 2016
There were 5.6 million job openings on the last business day of December 2015 and 7.9 million unemployed people in the month. The ratio of unemployed people to job openings was 1.4 in December 2015.
Number of unemployed people per job opening, January 2005 to December 2015, seasonally adjusted
Month
Number of unemployed people
Number of job openings
Number of unemployed per job opening
Jan 2005
7,784,000
3,595,000
2.2
Feb 2005
7,980,000
3,842,000
2.1
Mar 2005
7,737,000
3,891,000
2.0
Apr 2005
7,672,000
4,115,000
1.9
May 2005
7,651,000
3,824,000
2.0
Jun 2005
7,524,000
4,018,000
1.9
Jul 2005
7,406,000
4,162,000
1.8
Aug 2005
7,345,000
4,085,000
1.8
Sep 2005
7,553,000
4,227,000
1.8
Oct 2005
7,453,000
4,230,000
1.8
Nov 2005
7,566,000
4,341,000
1.7
Dec 2005
7,279,000
4,249,000
1.7
Jan 2006
7,064,000
4,278,000
1.7
Feb 2006
7,184,000
4,308,000
1.7
Mar 2006
7,072,000
4,537,000
1.6
Apr 2006
7,120,000
4,495,000
1.6
May 2006
6,980,000
4,432,000
1.6
Jun 2006
7,001,000
4,331,000
1.6
Jul 2006
7,175,000
4,081,000
1.8
Aug 2006
7,091,000
4,411,000
1.6
Sep 2006
6,847,000
4,498,000
1.5
Oct 2006
6,727,000
4,454,000
1.5
Nov 2006
6,872,000
4,622,000
1.5
Dec 2006
6,762,000
4,552,000
1.5
Jan 2007
7,116,000
4,590,000
1.6
Feb 2007
6,927,000
4,481,000
1.5
Mar 2007
6,731,000
4,657,000
1.4
Apr 2007
6,850,000
4,534,000
1.5
May 2007
6,766,000
4,531,000
1.5
Jun 2007
6,979,000
4,639,000
1.5
Jul 2007
7,149,000
4,430,000
1.6
Aug 2007
7,067,000
4,508,000
1.6
Sep 2007
7,170,000
4,481,000
1.6
Oct 2007
7,237,000
4,278,000
1.7
Nov 2007
7,240,000
4,278,000
1.7
Dec 2007
7,645,000
4,323,000
1.8
Jan 2008
7,685,000
4,223,000
1.8
Feb 2008
7,497,000
4,039,000
1.9
Mar 2008
7,822,000
4,012,000
1.9
Apr 2008
7,637,000
3,850,000
2.0
May 2008
8,395,000
4,000,000
2.1
Jun 2008
8,575,000
3,670,000
2.3
Jul 2008
8,937,000
3,762,000
2.4
Aug 2008
9,438,000
3,584,000
2.6
Sep 2008
9,494,000
3,210,000
3.0
Oct 2008
10,074,000
3,273,000
3.1
Nov 2008
10,538,000
3,059,000
3.4
Dec 2008
11,286,000
3,049,000
3.7
Jan 2009
12,058,000
2,763,000
4.4
Feb 2009
12,898,000
2,794,000
4.6
Mar 2009
13,426,000
2,493,000
5.4
Apr 2009
13,853,000
2,271,000
6.1
May 2009
14,499,000
2,413,000
6.0
Jun 2009
14,707,000
2,388,000
6.2
Jul 2009
14,601,000
2,146,000
6.8
Aug 2009
14,814,000
2,294,000
6.5
Sep 2009
15,009,000
2,434,000
6.2
Oct 2009
15,352,000
2,376,000
6.5
Nov 2009
15,219,000
2,419,000
6.3
Dec 2009
15,098,000
2,490,000
6.1
Jan 2010
15,046,000
2,706,000
5.6
Feb 2010
15,113,000
2,561,000
5.9
Mar 2010
15,202,000
2,652,000
5.7
Apr 2010
15,325,000
3,097,000
4.9
May 2010
14,849,000
2,900,000
5.1
Jun 2010
14,474,000
2,728,000
5.3
Jul 2010
14,512,000
2,929,000
5.0
Aug 2010
14,648,000
2,869,000
5.1
Sep 2010
14,579,000
2,782,000
5.2
Oct 2010
14,516,000
3,026,000
4.8
Nov 2010
15,081,000
3,072,000
4.9
Dec 2010
14,348,000
2,909,000
4.9
Jan 2011
14,013,000
2,917,000
4.8
Feb 2011
13,820,000
3,065,000
4.5
Mar 2011
13,737,000
3,132,000
4.4
Apr 2011
13,957,000
3,099,000
4.5
May 2011
13,855,000
3,032,000
4.6
Jun 2011
13,962,000
3,194,000
4.4
Jul 2011
13,763,000
3,417,000
4.0
Aug 2011
13,818,000
3,138,000
4.4
Sep 2011
13,948,000
3,557,000
3.9
Oct 2011
13,594,000
3,422,000
4.0
Nov 2011
13,302,000
3,215,000
4.1
Dec 2011
13,093,000
3,527,000
3.7
Jan 2012
12,755,000
3,653,000
3.5
Feb 2012
12,818,000
3,517,000
3.6
Mar 2012
12,718,000
3,837,000
3.3
Apr 2012
12,641,000
3,627,000
3.5
May 2012
12,655,000
3,696,000
3.4
Jun 2012
12,697,000
3,785,000
3.4
Jul 2012
12,662,000
3,587,000
3.5
Aug 2012
12,475,000
3,637,000
3.4
Sep 2012
12,140,000
3,614,000
3.4
Oct 2012
12,135,000
3,729,000
3.3
Nov 2012
12,011,000
3,741,000
3.2
Dec 2012
12,299,000
3,640,000
3.4
Jan 2013
12,417,000
3,770,000
3.3
Feb 2013
11,954,000
4,023,000
3.0
Mar 2013
11,681,000
3,891,000
3.0
Apr 2013
11,743,000
3,840,000
3.1
May 2013
11,641,000
3,829,000
3.0
Jun 2013
11,750,000
3,864,000
3.0
Jul 2013
11,362,000
3,829,000
3.0
Aug 2013
11,284,000
3,893,000
2.9
Sep 2013
11,302,000
3,955,000
2.9
Oct 2013
11,158,000
4,076,000
2.7
Nov 2013
10,796,000
4,073,000
2.7
Dec 2013
10,399,000
3,977,000
2.6
Jan 2014
10,192,000
3,906,000
2.6
Feb 2014
10,375,000
4,160,000
2.5
Mar 2014
10,415,000
4,210,000
2.5
Apr 2014
9,699,000
4,417,000
2.2
May 2014
9,719,000
4,608,000
2.1
Jun 2014
9,470,000
4,710,000
2.0
Jul 2014
9,651,000
4,726,000
2.0
Aug 2014
9,617,000
4,925,000
2.0
Sep 2014
9,296,000
4,678,000
2.0
Oct 2014
8,989,000
4,849,000
1.9
Nov 2014
9,053,000
4,886,000
1.9
Dec 2014
8,704,000
4,877,000
1.8
Jan 2015
8,920,000
4,965,000
1.8
Feb 2015
8,646,000
5,144,000
1.7
Mar 2015
8,557,000
5,109,000
1.7
Apr 2015
8,523,000
5,334,000
1.6
May 2015
8,619,000
5,357,000
1.6
Jun 2015
8,262,000
5,323,000
1.6
Jul 2015
8,249,000
5,668,000
1.5
Aug 2015
8,018,000
5,377,000
1.5
Sep 2015
7,925,000
5,534,000
1.4
Oct 2015
7,899,000
5,349,000
1.5
Nov 2015
7,924,000
5,346,000
1.5
Dec 2015
7,904,000
5,607,000 (p)
1.4 (p)
When the most recent recession began (December 2007), the number of unemployed people per job opening was 1.8. When the recession ended (June 2009), there were 6.2 unemployed people per job opening. The ratio peaked at 6.8 in July 2009 and has trended down since.
To learn more, see "Job Openings and Labor Turnover — December 2015" (HTML ) (PDF ). More charts featuring data on job openings, hires, and employment separations can be found in Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey Highlights: December 2015 (PDF ).
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