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The federal government had the lowest hires-per-job-opening ratio (0.30) in August 2018, followed by finance and insurance (0.41), state and local government, excluding education (0.41), information (0.49), and health care and social assistance (0.53). These industries had fewer hires than job openings, implying difficulty hiring workers, a longer hiring process, or some other timing issue for job postings.
Industry | Hires-per-job-opening ratio | Hires | Job openings |
---|---|---|---|
Federal government |
0.30 | 33,000 | 111,000 |
Finance and insurance |
0.41 | 148,000 | 363,000 |
State and local government, excluding education |
0.41 | 139,000 | 339,000 |
Information |
0.49 | 73,000 | 149,000 |
Health care and social assistance |
0.53 | 604,000 | 1,143,000 |
Wholesale trade |
0.68 | 163,000 | 238,000 |
Educational services |
0.69 | 89,000 | 129,000 |
Durable goods manufacturing |
0.72 | 207,000 | 286,000 |
State and local government education |
0.81 | 162,000 | 200,000 |
Total nonfarm |
0.81 | 5,784,000 | 7,136,000 |
Nondurable goods manufacturing |
0.82 | 165,000 | 202,000 |
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities |
0.86 | 236,000 | 273,000 |
Professional and business services |
0.89 | 1,177,000 | 1,318,000 |
Real estate and rental and leasing |
0.93 | 80,000 | 86,000 |
Accommodation and food services |
0.99 | 888,000 | 898,000 |
Other services |
1.06 | 815,000 | 768,000 |
Retail trade |
1.06 | 233,000 | 219,000 |
Construction |
1.20 | 358,000 | 298,000 |
Mining and logging |
1.32 | 41,000 | 31,000 |
Arts, entertainment, and recreation |
2.01 | 173,000 | 86,000 |
Note: These data are preliminary. |
The industries with the highest ratios were arts, entertainment, and recreation (2.01), mining and logging (1.32), and construction (1.20). High hires-per-job-opening ratios mean that appropriate workers were available and employers were able to hire them during the month.
The hires-per-job-opening ratio for all nonfarm industries was 0.81 in August 2018. The hires-per-job-opening ratios for state and local government education and nondurable goods manufacturing were not much different from the all industry ratio.
Hires and job openings 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 "Which industries are filling job openings and which industries are not? Exploring the JOLTS hires-per-job-opening ratio" in Beyond the Numbers, October 2018. The hires-per-job-opening ratio divides the number of hires that occurred during a month by the number of jobs that remained open at the end of the month. A ratio greater than 1.0 indicates that businesses hired more employees during the month than they had jobs remaining open at the end of the month. A ratio less than 1.0 indicates fewer hires during the month than there were open jobs at the end of the month.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Hires-per-job-opening ratio 0.3 in federal government; 2.0 in arts, entertainment, and recreation at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/hires-per-job-opening-ratio-0-point-3-in-federal-government-2-point-0-in-arts-entertainment-and-recreation-august-2018.htm (visited December 09, 2024).