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Unemployed people per job opening by state, January 2020 to September 2021

December 03, 2021

In September 2021, there were 0.7 unemployed people per job opening in the United States, compared with 0.8 in January 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. ratio reached 5.0 unemployed people per job opening in April 2020 as a result of the massive job losses at the start of the pandemic.

Hawaii had the highest ratio of unemployed people per job opening in September 2021, at 1.5. Other states with a ratio of unemployed people to job openings greater than 1.0 were California, Connecticut, and New York (1.2 each), followed by Nevada, at 1.1.

 Unemployed people per job opening by state, January 2020 to September 2021
State Jan 2020 Feb 2020 Mar 2020 Apr 2020 May 2020 Jun 2020 Jul 2020 Aug 2020 Sep 2020 Oct 2020 Nov 2020 Dec 2020 Jan 2021 Feb 2021 Mar 2021

Alabama

0.6 0.6 0.8 4.4 1.9 2.1 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.8

Alaska

0.8 0.8 0.9 2.9 8.0 4.3 2.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.9

Arizona

1.1 1.1 1.4 4.5 2.8 2.8 2.7 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.3

Arkansas

0.8 0.9 1.0 2.7 2.6 2.4 1.7 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.8

California

1.0 1.1 1.4 6.7 4.9 4.2 3.4 3.4 2.8 2.6 2.3 2.6 2.4 2.2 2.0

Colorado

0.7 0.7 1.4 3.7 3.6 3.6 2.1 2.1 2.0 1.9 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.4

Connecticut

1.0 1.0 1.2 3.3 3.7 3.6 3.6 2.7 2.6 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.2 1.9 1.6

Delaware

1.0 1.0 1.2 3.7 3.5 2.8 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.2 1.5 1.5 1.2 1.3 1.3

District of Columbia

0.7 0.6 0.8 1.6 1.9 1.3 1.0 1.1 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.1

Florida

0.8 0.8 1.4 5.1 4.5 3.3 3.0 2.1 1.8 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.1

Georgia

0.7 0.8 1.2 4.4 2.2 1.8 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.8 0.9 0.8

Hawaii

0.5 0.5 0.6 8.7 5.8 3.9 3.6 4.5 5.7 3.0 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.2

Idaho

0.6 0.6 0.7 2.8 2.1 1.9 1.4 1.2 1.6 1.1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.5

Illinois

0.9 0.9 1.0 6.2 5.1 4.0 2.9 3.1 2.8 2.0 2.1 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.4

Indiana

0.7 0.7 1.0 6.1 3.1 2.5 1.9 1.8 1.4 1.2 1.1 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.7

Iowa

0.6 0.7 0.9 3.9 2.6 1.9 1.4 1.4 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7

Kansas

0.7 0.7 0.9 3.4 2.4 1.8 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.1 1.1 1.1 0.7 0.8 0.7

Kentucky

0.9 1.0 1.0 4.9 2.7 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.0 0.9 0.9

Louisiana

1.2 1.1 1.6 4.5 3.3 2.2 2.0 1.7 1.8 1.6 1.7 1.9 1.5 1.5 1.5

Maine

0.7 0.7 0.9 2.5 2.3 1.5 2.3 1.4 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.0 0.8

Maryland

0.7 0.7 0.9 2.9 2.5 2.1 1.8 2.0 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0

Massachusetts

0.7 0.6 0.7 4.6 4.5 3.7 2.2 2.4 2.3 2.0 1.9 2.1 2.0 1.5 1.2

Michigan

0.8 0.9 1.3 11.1 7.4 3.1 1.8 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.1 1.0 0.9

Minnesota

0.7 0.9 1.0 3.1 3.7 2.7 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.0 1.0

Mississippi

1.4 1.4 1.7 5.5 2.7 2.2 1.9 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.0

Missouri

0.9 0.9 1.1 4.4 2.8 2.1 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.2 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.8

Montana

0.7 0.7 0.8 3.4 2.1 2.2 1.5 1.3 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6

Nebraska

0.6 0.6 0.8 1.9 1.8 1.7 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.5

Nevada

0.8 1.0 1.7 12.6 6.8 3.1 3.1 3.2 2.7 2.4 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.7 1.3

New Hampshire

0.6 0.5 0.6 4.4 3.4 2.5 1.9 1.7 1.3 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.5

New Jersey

0.9 0.9 1.1 5.0 4.9 3.8 3.2 3.1 1.7 1.6 2.1 1.5 1.7 1.5 1.2

New Mexico

1.0 1.2 1.4 2.5 2.7 2.7 3.3 2.4 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 1.9 1.7 1.5

New York

0.8 0.9 1.1 5.8 4.7 4.1 3.4 3.2 2.8 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.1 2.0

North Carolina

0.8 0.8 1.1 4.3 3.6 2.1 2.0 1.6 1.6 1.4 1.6 1.3 1.0 1.0 0.9

North Dakota

0.4 0.4 0.5 2.2 2.1 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.8

Ohio

1.1 1.1 1.4 5.2 3.9 2.4 2.2 2.2 1.7 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.0 0.9

Oklahoma

0.7 0.7 0.8 3.1 2.3 2.1 1.6 1.4 1.4 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.8

Oregon

0.7 0.7 0.8 3.7 3.5 2.8 2.1 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.5 1.3 1.1 1.0

Pennsylvania

1.1 1.2 1.5 4.7 3.7 3.2 3.1 2.5 1.7 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.2

Rhode Island

0.9 1.0 1.1 5.6 3.2 2.0 3.6 3.5 3.0 1.5 1.9 1.9 1.6 1.5 1.3

South Carolina

0.6 0.6 0.7 3.1 2.9 1.8 1.8 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9

South Dakota

0.6 0.6 0.8 2.7 2.7 2.2 1.2 1.3 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5

Tennessee

0.9 0.8 0.9 4.7 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.0 0.9

Texas

1.0 1.0 1.6 5.7 3.9 3.2 2.9 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.4

Utah

0.5 0.5 0.6 2.4 1.8 1.7 1.4 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6

Vermont

0.5 0.5 0.7 3.7 2.2 1.9 3.0 1.3 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.5

Virginia

0.5 0.5 0.6 3.1 2.4 2.0 1.8 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.1 0.9 1.0

Washington

0.8 1.0 1.6 8.2 4.2 3.3 3.6 2.8 2.5 2.1 1.7 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.1

West Virginia

0.8 0.9 1.1 3.3 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.0 1.0 0.9

Wisconsin

0.6 0.7 0.8 4.4 2.7 2.1 1.3 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.7

Wyoming

0.7 0.8 1.1 1.2 3.2 3.1 1.6 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8
 Unemployed people per job opening by state, January 2020 to September 2021 (Continued)
State Apr 2021 May 2021 Jun 2021 Jul 2021 Aug 2021 Sep 2021

Alabama

0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

Alaska

1.0 1.3 1.0 0.6 0.8 0.7

Arizona

1.2 1.1 1.2 1.1 0.9 1.0

Arkansas

0.6 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6

California

1.8 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.2

Colorado

1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 1.0

Connecticut

1.4 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.2

Delaware

1.0 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8

District of Columbia

0.8 1.0 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.7

Florida

1.0 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.8 0.8

Georgia

0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4

Hawaii

2.0 1.3 1.3 1.0 1.4 1.5

Idaho

0.4 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.5

Illinois

1.3 1.3 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.0

Indiana

0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5

Iowa

0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6

Kansas

0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7

Kentucky

0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6

Louisiana

1.4 1.3 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.9

Maine

0.7 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.7 0.6

Maryland

0.9 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.9 0.9

Massachusetts

1.2 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.7 0.6

Michigan

0.7 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.9

Minnesota

0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6

Mississippi

1.2 0.9 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9

Missouri

0.7 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.6

Montana

0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

Nebraska

0.4 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3

Nevada

1.5 1.0 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.1

New Hampshire

0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4

New Jersey

1.3 1.3 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0

New Mexico

1.5 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0

New York

1.5 1.5 1.4 1.0 1.2 1.2

North Carolina

0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6

North Dakota

0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5

Ohio

0.9 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.9 0.8

Oklahoma

0.6 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5

Oregon

1.1 1.0 0.9 0.6 0.7 0.7

Pennsylvania

1.1 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9

Rhode Island

1.1 0.9 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8

South Carolina

0.7 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6

South Dakota

0.4 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4

Tennessee

0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.6

Texas

1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.9 1.0

Utah

0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.4

Vermont

0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4

Virginia

0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5

Washington

1.3 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9

West Virginia

0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.6

Wisconsin

0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.5

Wyoming

0.8 1.1 1.0 0.6 0.6 0.7

Nebraska had the lowest ratio of unemployed people to job openings in September 2021 at 0.3, followed by Georgia, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont, at 0.4 each. In September 2021, 39 states and the District of Columbia had a ratio below 1.0.

The ratio of unemployed people to job openings data is derived from data from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and Local Area Unemployment Statistics programs and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "State Job Openings and Labor Turnover — September 2021." We also have more charts featuring data on state job openings, hires, and separations.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployed people per job opening by state, January 2020 to September 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/unemployed-people-per-job-opening-by-state-january-2020-to-september-2021.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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