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On the last business day of October 2016, there were 5.5 million job openings, an increase of 112,000 from a year earlier. The health care and social assistance industry saw the biggest increase in job openings over the year (167,000), followed by retail trade (114,000) and construction (76,000).
Industry | Levels (in thousands) | Change in number of job openings | Rates | Change in job openings rate (percentage points) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
October 2015 | October 2016 | October 2015 | October 2016 | |||
Health care and social assistance |
942,000 | 1,109,000 | 167,000 | 4.8% | 5.4% | 0.6 |
Retail trade |
563,000 | 677,000 | 114,000 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 0.6 |
Total |
5,422,000 | 5,534,000 | 112,000 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 0.0 |
Construction |
129,000 | 205,000 | 76,000 | 1.9 | 3.0 | 1.1 |
Real estate and rental and leasing |
67,000 | 94,000 | 27,000 | 3.1 | 4.2 | 1.1 |
Federal government |
61,000 | 88,000 | 27,000 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 0.8 |
State and local, excluding education |
270,000 | 289,000 | 19,000 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 0.2 |
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities |
185,000 | 197,000 | 12,000 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 0.2 |
Finance and insurance |
242,000 | 254,000 | 12,000 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 0.1 |
Durable goods manufacturing |
181,000 | 190,000 | 9,000 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 0.1 |
Arts, entertainment, and recreation |
62,000 | 70,000 | 8,000 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 0.3 |
Nondurable goods manufacturing |
130,000 | 132,000 | 2,000 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 0.0 |
Mining and logging |
19,000 | 12,000 | -7,000 | 2.3 | 1.8 | -0.5 |
Wholesale trade |
183,000 | 174,000 | -9,000 | 3.0 | 2.8 | -0.2 |
Educational services |
107,000 | 96,000 | -11,000 | 3.0 | 2.6 | -0.4 |
State and local education |
153,000 | 135,000 | -18,000 | 1.5 | 1.3 | -0.2 |
Other services |
190,000 | 168,000 | -22,000 | 3.3 | 2.9 | -0.4 |
Information |
114,000 | 87,000 | -27,000 | 4.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
Accommodation and food services |
676,000 | 631,000 | -45,000 | 4.9 | 4.5 | -0.4 |
Professional and business services |
1,149,000 | 926,000 | -223,000 | 5.5 | 4.3 | -1.2 |
Professional and business services saw the largest over-the-year decrease in job openings among the industries (−223,000), followed by accommodation and food services (−45,000).
These data are from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "Job Openings and Labor Turnover — October 2016" (HTML) (PDF). More charts featuring data on job openings, hires, and employment separations can be found in Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey Highlights: October 2016 (PDF). Also see more charts featuring data on job openings, hires, and separations.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 112,000 more job openings in October 2016 than in October 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/112000-more-job-openings-in-october-2016-than-in-october-2015.htm (visited October 31, 2024).