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112,000 more job openings in October 2016 than in October 2015

December 09, 2016

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).

Change in Job openings by industry, October 2015 to October 2016, seasonally adjusted
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.

SUGGESTED CITATION

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).

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