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1.0 unemployed person per job opening in March 2018

May 17, 2018

There were 6.6 million job openings on the last business day of March 2018 and also 6.6 million unemployed people in March. The ratio of unemployed people to job openings was 1.0 in March, the lowest since the job openings data began in December 2000.

Number of unemployed people per job opening, March 2003 to March 2018, seasonally adjusted
Month Number of unemployed per job opening Number of unemployed Number of job openings

Mar 2003

2.8 8,588,000 3,052,000

Apr 2003

2.6 8,842,000 3,340,000

May 2003

2.8 8,957,000 3,233,000

Jun 2003

2.8 9,266,000 3,334,000

Jul 2003

2.8 9,011,000 3,270,000

Aug 2003

2.7 8,896,000 3,283,000

Sep 2003

2.9 8,921,000 3,074,000

Oct 2003

2.7 8,732,000 3,205,000

Nov 2003

2.7 8,576,000 3,157,000

Dec 2003

2.6 8,317,000 3,214,000

Jan 2004

2.4 8,370,000 3,459,000

Feb 2004

2.4 8,167,000 3,402,000

Mar 2004

2.5 8,491,000 3,380,000

Apr 2004

2.3 8,170,000 3,629,000

May 2004

2.2 8,212,000 3,660,000

Jun 2004

2.4 8,286,000 3,424,000

Jul 2004

2.1 8,136,000 3,934,000

Aug 2004

2.2 7,990,000 3,619,000

Sep 2004

2.1 7,927,000 3,742,000

Oct 2004

2.1 8,061,000 3,792,000

Nov 2004

2.4 7,932,000 3,238,000

Dec 2004

2.2 7,934,000 3,650,000

Jan 2005

2.1 7,784,000 3,670,000

Feb 2005

2.1 7,980,000 3,845,000

Mar 2005

2.0 7,737,000 3,831,000

Apr 2005

1.8 7,672,000 4,243,000

May 2005

2.0 7,651,000 3,884,000

Jun 2005

1.9 7,524,000 4,022,000

Jul 2005

1.7 7,406,000 4,319,000

Aug 2005

1.8 7,345,000 4,073,000

Sep 2005

1.8 7,553,000 4,237,000

Oct 2005

1.7 7,453,000 4,277,000

Nov 2005

1.8 7,566,000 4,220,000

Dec 2005

1.8 7,279,000 4,064,000

Jan 2006

1.6 7,064,000 4,298,000

Feb 2006

1.7 7,184,000 4,229,000

Mar 2006

1.6 7,072,000 4,493,000

Apr 2006

1.5 7,120,000 4,680,000

May 2006

1.6 6,980,000 4,389,000

Jun 2006

1.6 7,001,000 4,349,000

Jul 2006

1.7 7,175,000 4,154,000

Aug 2006

1.6 7,091,000 4,560,000

Sep 2006

1.5 6,847,000 4,516,000

Oct 2006

1.5 6,727,000 4,472,000

Nov 2006

1.6 6,872,000 4,341,000

Dec 2006

1.6 6,762,000 4,278,000

Jan 2007

1.5 7,116,000 4,630,000

Feb 2007

1.6 6,927,000 4,465,000

Mar 2007

1.4 6,731,000 4,666,000

Apr 2007

1.4 6,850,000 4,824,000

May 2007

1.5 6,766,000 4,550,000

Jun 2007

1.5 6,979,000 4,608,000

Jul 2007

1.6 7,149,000 4,490,000

Aug 2007

1.6 7,067,000 4,555,000

Sep 2007

1.6 7,170,000 4,523,000

Oct 2007

1.7 7,237,000 4,300,000

Nov 2007

1.7 7,240,000 4,156,000

Dec 2007

1.9 7,645,000 4,123,000

Jan 2008

1.8 7,685,000 4,260,000

Feb 2008

1.9 7,497,000 4,042,000

Mar 2008

2.0 7,822,000 4,001,000

Apr 2008

1.9 7,637,000 4,098,000

May 2008

2.1 8,395,000 3,960,000

Jun 2008

2.3 8,575,000 3,767,000

Jul 2008

2.3 8,937,000 3,821,000

Aug 2008

2.6 9,438,000 3,665,000

Sep 2008

2.9 9,494,000 3,264,000

Oct 2008

3.1 10,074,000 3,292,000

Nov 2008

3.6 10,538,000 2,956,000

Dec 2008

4.0 11,286,000 2,830,000

Jan 2009

4.4 12,058,000 2,767,000

Feb 2009

4.6 12,898,000 2,791,000

Mar 2009

5.4 13,426,000 2,491,000

Apr 2009

5.9 13,853,000 2,357,000

May 2009

6.0 14,499,000 2,427,000

Jun 2009

6.1 14,707,000 2,428,000

Jul 2009

6.6 14,601,000 2,196,000

Aug 2009

6.4 14,814,000 2,306,000

Sep 2009

6.1 15,009,000 2,478,000

Oct 2009

6.4 15,352,000 2,400,000

Nov 2009

6.5 15,219,000 2,350,000

Dec 2009

6.3 15,098,000 2,407,000

Jan 2010

5.7 15,046,000 2,636,000

Feb 2010

5.9 15,113,000 2,578,000

Mar 2010

5.7 15,202,000 2,666,000

Apr 2010

4.8 15,325,000 3,220,000

May 2010

5.1 14,849,000 2,891,000

Jun 2010

5.4 14,474,000 2,664,000

Jul 2010

4.9 14,512,000 2,965,000

Aug 2010

5.0 14,648,000 2,920,000

Sep 2010

5.3 14,579,000 2,767,000

Oct 2010

4.8 14,516,000 3,033,000

Nov 2010

5.2 15,081,000 2,914,000

Dec 2010

5.0 14,348,000 2,857,000

Jan 2011

4.8 14,013,000 2,939,000

Feb 2011

4.5 13,820,000 3,056,000

Mar 2011

4.4 13,737,000 3,130,000

Apr 2011

4.2 13,957,000 3,287,000

May 2011

4.4 13,855,000 3,114,000

Jun 2011

4.3 13,962,000 3,224,000

Jul 2011

4.0 13,763,000 3,475,000

Aug 2011

4.4 13,818,000 3,168,000

Sep 2011

4.0 13,948,000 3,495,000

Oct 2011

4.0 13,594,000 3,421,000

Nov 2011

4.2 13,302,000 3,153,000

Dec 2011

3.9 13,093,000 3,369,000

Jan 2012

3.4 12,797,000 3,725,000

Feb 2012

3.7 12,813,000 3,500,000

Mar 2012

3.3 12,713,000 3,831,000

Apr 2012

3.5 12,646,000 3,643,000

May 2012

3.4 12,660,000 3,694,000

Jun 2012

3.3 12,692,000 3,799,000

Jul 2012

3.4 12,656,000 3,694,000

Aug 2012

3.4 12,471,000 3,683,000

Sep 2012

3.4 12,115,000 3,521,000

Oct 2012

3.3 12,124,000 3,708,000

Nov 2012

3.4 12,005,000 3,521,000

Dec 2012

3.4 12,298,000 3,570,000

Jan 2013

3.3 12,471,000 3,804,000

Feb 2013

3.0 11,950,000 3,974,000

Mar 2013

3.0 11,689,000 3,916,000

Apr 2013

3.0 11,760,000 3,934,000

May 2013

3.0 11,654,000 3,889,000

Jun 2013

3.0 11,751,000 3,903,000

Jul 2013

2.9 11,335,000 3,875,000

Aug 2013

2.9 11,279,000 3,915,000

Sep 2013

2.9 11,270,000 3,937,000

Oct 2013

2.7 11,136,000 4,109,000

Nov 2013

2.8 10,787,000 3,841,000

Dec 2013

2.8 10,404,000 3,783,000

Jan 2014

2.6 10,235,000 3,989,000

Feb 2014

2.5 10,365,000 4,147,000

Mar 2014

2.5 10,435,000 4,203,000

Apr 2014

2.1 9,724,000 4,537,000

May 2014

2.1 9,740,000 4,608,000

Jun 2014

2.0 9,474,000 4,676,000

Jul 2014

2.1 9,610,000 4,622,000

Aug 2014

1.9 9,602,000 4,954,000

Sep 2014

2.0 9,266,000 4,588,000

Oct 2014

1.8 8,972,000 4,944,000

Nov 2014

1.9 9,064,000 4,702,000

Dec 2014

1.8 8,704,000 4,820,000

Jan 2015

1.8 8,951,000 5,113,000

Feb 2015

1.7 8,634,000 5,160,000

Mar 2015

1.7 8,578,000 5,183,000

Apr 2015

1.5 8,546,000 5,625,000

May 2015

1.6 8,662,000 5,426,000

Jun 2015

1.6 8,265,000 5,165,000

Jul 2015

1.4 8,206,000 5,864,000

Aug 2015

1.5 7,996,000 5,365,000

Sep 2015

1.5 7,891,000 5,367,000

Oct 2015

1.4 7,884,000 5,538,000

Nov 2015

1.5 7,948,000 5,227,000

Dec 2015

1.5 7,907,000 5,395,000

Jan 2016

1.4 7,811,000 5,729,000

Feb 2016

1.4 7,806,000 5,600,000

Mar 2016

1.3 8,024,000 5,944,000

Apr 2016

1.3 7,942,000 5,893,000

May 2016

1.3 7,465,000 5,696,000

Jun 2016

1.4 7,812,000 5,651,000

Jul 2016

1.3 7,723,000 5,982,000

Aug 2016

1.4 7,827,000 5,516,000

Sep 2016

1.4 7,919,000 5,651,000

Oct 2016

1.4 7,761,000 5,488,000

Nov 2016

1.3 7,419,000 5,632,000

Dec 2016

1.4 7,502,000 5,486,000

Jan 2017

1.4 7,642,000 5,444,000

Feb 2017

1.3 7,486,000 5,618,000

Mar 2017

1.3 7,171,000 5,607,000

Apr 2017

1.1 7,021,000 6,108,000

May 2017

1.2 6,837,000 5,688,000

Jun 2017

1.1 6,964,000 6,125,000

Jul 2017

1.1 6,956,000 6,200,000

Aug 2017

1.2 7,127,000 6,046,000

Sep 2017

1.1 6,759,000 6,231,000

Oct 2017

1.1 6,524,000 6,061,000

Nov 2017

1.1 6,616,000 5,933,000

Dec 2017

1.2 6,576,000 5,667,000

Jan 2018

1.1 6,684,000 6,228,000

Feb 2018

1.1 6,706,000 6,078,000

Mar 2018

1.0 6,585,000 6,550,000

When the most recent recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed people per job opening was 1.9. When the recession ended in June 2009, there were 6.1 unemployed people per job opening. The ratio peaked at 6.6 unemployed people per job opening in July 2009 and has trended downward since then.

Health care and social assistance had nearly 1.2 million job openings in March 2018, 17.8 percent of the total. Professional and business services had 1.1 million job openings, 17.2 percent of the total.

Job openings by industry, March 2018, seasonally adjusted
Industry Number of job openings Percent of total

Total nonfarm

6,550,000 100.0%

Mining and logging

22,000 0.3

Construction

248,000 3.8

Manufacturing

391,000 6.0

Wholesale trade

177,000 2.7

Retail trade

723,000 11.0

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

293,000 4.5

Information

131,000 2.0

Finance and insurance

310,000 4.7

Real estate and rental and leasing

85,000 1.3

Professional and business services

1,128,000 17.2

Educational services

105,000 1.6

Health care and social assistance

1,167,000 17.8

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

85,000 1.3

Accommodation and food services

794,000 12.1

Other services

270,000 4.1

Federal government

83,000 1.3

State and local government education

185,000 2.8

State and local government, excluding education

354,000 5.4

These data are from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and are seasonally adjusted. Job openings data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "Job Openings and Labor Turnover — March 2018" (HTML) (PDF). We have more charts featuring data on job openings, hires, and separations.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 1.0 unemployed person per job opening in March 2018 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/1-unemployed-person-per-job-opening-in-march-2018.htm (visited November 08, 2024).

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