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Number of unemployed people per job opening 1.0 or fewer since January 2018

December 31, 2019

There were 7.3 million job openings on the last business day of October 2019 and about 5.9 million unemployed people during October. This yielded a ratio of unemployed people to job openings of 0.8 for October. Since January 2018, the number of unemployed people per job opening has ranged between 0.8 and 1.0.

 Number of unemployed people per job opening, January 2009–October 2019
Month Number of unemployed people per job opening Number of unemployed Number of job openings

Jan 2009

4.4 12,058,000 2,731,000

Feb 2009

4.5 12,898,000 2,838,000

Mar 2009

5.3 13,426,000 2,521,000

Apr 2009

5.9 13,853,000 2,343,000

May 2009

5.6 14,499,000 2,574,000

Jun 2009

5.8 14,707,000 2,517,000

Jul 2009

6.4 14,601,000 2,264,000

Aug 2009

6.3 14,814,000 2,365,000

Sep 2009

6.0 15,009,000 2,481,000

Oct 2009

6.3 15,352,000 2,422,000

Nov 2009

6.3 15,219,000 2,435,000

Dec 2009

6.1 15,098,000 2,487,000

Jan 2010

5.3 15,046,000 2,833,000

Feb 2010

5.7 15,113,000 2,651,000

Mar 2010

5.7 15,202,000 2,679,000

Apr 2010

4.8 15,325,000 3,217,000

May 2010

4.9 14,849,000 3,019,000

Jun 2010

5.1 14,474,000 2,813,000

Jul 2010

4.6 14,512,000 3,127,000

Aug 2010

4.8 14,648,000 3,025,000

Sep 2010

5.0 14,579,000 2,912,000

Oct 2010

4.5 14,516,000 3,256,000

Nov 2010

4.8 15,081,000 3,134,000

Dec 2010

4.8 14,348,000 2,969,000

Jan 2011

4.5 14,013,000 3,100,000

Feb 2011

4.3 13,820,000 3,213,000

Mar 2011

4.2 13,737,000 3,253,000

Apr 2011

4.2 13,957,000 3,337,000

May 2011

4.3 13,855,000 3,207,000

Jun 2011

4.0 13,962,000 3,467,000

Jul 2011

3.7 13,763,000 3,676,000

Aug 2011

4.1 13,818,000 3,358,000

Sep 2011

3.7 13,948,000 3,763,000

Oct 2011

3.7 13,594,000 3,650,000

Nov 2011

3.8 13,302,000 3,485,000

Dec 2011

3.6 13,093,000 3,662,000

Jan 2012

3.3 12,797,000 3,904,000

Feb 2012

3.6 12,813,000 3,605,000

Mar 2012

3.2 12,713,000 3,976,000

Apr 2012

3.3 12,646,000 3,878,000

May 2012

3.3 12,660,000 3,861,000

Jun 2012

3.2 12,692,000 3,916,000

Jul 2012

3.3 12,656,000 3,790,000

Aug 2012

3.2 12,471,000 3,839,000

Sep 2012

3.1 12,115,000 3,861,000

Oct 2012

3.2 12,124,000 3,808,000

Nov 2012

3.2 12,005,000 3,787,000

Dec 2012

3.2 12,298,000 3,840,000

Jan 2013

3.2 12,471,000 3,915,000

Feb 2013

3.0 11,950,000 3,981,000

Mar 2013

2.9 11,689,000 4,080,000

Apr 2013

2.9 11,760,000 4,078,000

May 2013

2.8 11,654,000 4,173,000

Jun 2013

2.8 11,751,000 4,166,000

Jul 2013

2.9 11,335,000 3,946,000

Aug 2013

2.7 11,279,000 4,112,000

Sep 2013

2.7 11,270,000 4,105,000

Oct 2013

2.6 11,136,000 4,268,000

Nov 2013

2.7 10,787,000 4,002,000

Dec 2013

2.6 10,404,000 3,996,000

Jan 2014

2.5 10,202,000 4,131,000

Feb 2014

2.4 10,349,000 4,347,000

Mar 2014

2.4 10,380,000 4,388,000

Apr 2014

2.1 9,702,000 4,662,000

May 2014

2.1 9,859,000 4,775,000

Jun 2014

1.9 9,460,000 4,999,000

Jul 2014

2.0 9,608,000 4,919,000

Aug 2014

1.8 9,599,000 5,383,000

Sep 2014

1.9 9,262,000 4,876,000

Oct 2014

1.8 8,990,000 5,066,000

Nov 2014

1.9 9,090,000 4,719,000

Dec 2014

1.8 8,717,000 4,981,000

Jan 2015

1.7 8,903,000 5,377,000

Feb 2015

1.6 8,610,000 5,410,000

Mar 2015

1.6 8,504,000 5,223,000

Apr 2015

1.5 8,526,000 5,726,000

May 2015

1.6 8,814,000 5,587,000

Jun 2015

1.6 8,249,000 5,259,000

Jul 2015

1.3 8,194,000 6,147,000

Aug 2015

1.4 7,990,000 5,517,000

Sep 2015

1.4 7,892,000 5,450,000

Oct 2015

1.4 7,918,000 5,846,000

Nov 2015

1.4 7,995,000 5,564,000

Dec 2015

1.4 7,916,000 5,678,000

Jan 2016

1.3 7,749,000 5,977,000

Feb 2016

1.4 7,771,000 5,747,000

Mar 2016

1.3 7,932,000 6,151,000

Apr 2016

1.4 7,928,000 5,872,000

May 2016

1.3 7,626,000 5,775,000

Jun 2016

1.3 7,795,000 5,778,000

Jul 2016

1.3 7,700,000 6,088,000

Aug 2016

1.4 7,817,000 5,720,000

Sep 2016

1.4 7,933,000 5,828,000

Oct 2016

1.4 7,819,000 5,616,000

Nov 2016

1.3 7,480,000 5,862,000

Dec 2016

1.3 7,503,000 5,831,000

Jan 2017

1.3 7,565,000 5,624,000

Feb 2017

1.3 7,437,000 5,875,000

Mar 2017

1.2 7,078,000 5,848,000

Apr 2017

1.1 7,019,000 6,157,000

May 2017

1.2 6,991,000 5,821,000

Jun 2017

1.1 6,948,000 6,371,000

Jul 2017

1.1 6,927,000 6,349,000

Aug 2017

1.1 7,115,000 6,352,000

Sep 2017

1.1 6,791,000 6,256,000

Oct 2017

1.0 6,588,000 6,405,000

Nov 2017

1.1 6,682,000 6,163,000

Dec 2017

1.1 6,572,000 6,204,000

Jan 2018

1.0 6,641,000 6,591,000

Feb 2018

1.0 6,687,000 6,530,000

Mar 2018

0.9 6,486,000 6,894,000

Apr 2018

0.9 6,335,000 7,106,000

May 2018

0.9 6,128,000 7,126,000

Jun 2018

0.9 6,537,000 7,393,000

Jul 2018

0.8 6,245,000 7,442,000

Aug 2018

0.8 6,197,000 7,342,000

Sep 2018

0.8 5,986,000 7,392,000

Oct 2018

0.8 6,112,000 7,593,000

Nov 2018

0.8 6,018,000 7,626,000

Dec 2018

0.8 6,294,000 7,479,000

Jan 2019

0.9 6,535,000 7,625,000

Feb 2019

0.9 6,235,000 7,142,000

Mar 2019

0.8 6,211,000 7,474,000

Apr 2019

0.8 5,824,000 7,372,000

May 2019

0.8 5,888,000 7,384,000

Jun 2019

0.8 5,975,000 7,248,000

Jul 2019

0.8 6,063,000 7,174,000

Aug 2019

0.8 6,044,000 7,301,000

Sep 2019

0.8 5,769,000 7,032,000

Oct 2019

0.8 5,855,000 7,267,000

Since 2009, the ratio of unemployed people per job opening has ranged from 0.8 during 2018 and 2019 to 6.4 in July 2009, a month after the end of the most recent recession.

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 — October 2019." Also see more charts made showing job openings, hires, and separations data.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Number of unemployed people per job opening 1.0 or fewer since January 2018 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/number-of-unemployed-people-per-job-opening-1-point-0-or-fewer-since-january-2018.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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