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West Virginia had the highest job openings rate in December 2020

April 14, 2021

In December 2020, West Virginia had the highest job openings rate at 5.8 percent. Other states with a job openings rate greater than 5.0 percent in December 2020 were Georgia, Arizona, New Jersey, Oregon, and South Carolina. The job openings rates are a moving average of the rate for the reference month and the prior 2 months.

Job openings rate by state, January 2020–December 2020
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

Alabama

4.1% 4.2% 4.3% 4.2% 4.1% 4.2% 4.6% 4.8% 5.1% 5.0% 4.8% 4.8%

Alaska

4.8 5.4 5.3 5.4 6.1 6.9 7.1 6.3 5.4 5.0 4.7 5.0

Arizona

4.6 4.7 4.7 4.4 4.2 4.3 4.6 5.1 5.5 5.8 5.4 5.3

Arkansas

4.1 4.2 4.1 4.0 3.7 3.7 4.2 4.6 5.0 4.9 4.6 4.4

California

3.9 4.0 3.9 3.6 3.3 3.4 3.8 3.9 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.8

Colorado

3.9 4.0 3.9 3.9 3.9 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.0 3.8 3.6

Connecticut

3.5 3.6 3.6 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.8

Delaware

4.5 4.4 4.6 4.5 4.5 4.6 5.0 4.9 4.8 4.6 4.8 4.7

District of Columbia

3.5 3.7 3.8 4.1 3.7 4.1 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.2 3.9

Florida

4.3 4.3 4.3 4.0 3.6 3.5 3.9 4.2 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.4

Georgia

4.6 4.6 4.3 4.1 4.2 4.5 5.1 5.2 5.5 5.3 5.3 5.4

Hawaii

5.0 5.1 5.0 3.7 3.1 3.1 3.4 3.7 3.8 3.7 3.6 3.5

Idaho

4.3 4.5 4.4 4.7 4.8 5.3 5.6 5.4 5.4 5.1 4.9 4.9

Illinois

3.8 4.0 4.0 3.8 3.5 3.5 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.1 4.0

Indiana

3.9 4.1 4.2 4.1 3.8 3.9 4.6 4.9 5.3 5.1 5.1 4.7

Iowa

3.8 3.9 3.9 4.0 3.9 4.1 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.3

Kansas

4.0 4.2 4.2 4.3 3.9 4.2 4.5 4.8 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.7

Kentucky

4.2 4.1 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.3 4.5 4.7 4.9 4.8 4.9 4.7

Louisiana

4.0 4.2 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.2 4.4 4.9 5.2 5.0 4.6 4.3

Maine

4.3 4.4 4.1 4.0 4.4 4.9 5.2 4.9 4.7 4.3 4.3 4.5

Maryland

5.1 5.3 5.2 4.6 4.3 4.2 4.6 4.8 5.1 5.2 5.2 5.0

Massachusetts

3.8 4.1 4.1 3.9 3.5 3.6 3.9 4.1 4.2 4.1 4.2 4.2

Michigan

4.3 4.3 4.3 3.9 3.4 3.6 4.3 4.9 5.1 4.9 4.6 4.4

Minnesota

4.0 3.9 3.9 3.6 3.5 3.5 3.8 3.9 4.1 3.9 3.9 3.8

Mississippi

3.7 3.9 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.4 4.6 5.2 5.5 5.4 4.8 4.7

Missouri

3.6 3.7 3.9 3.9 3.7 3.9 4.5 4.8 4.6 4.2 4.1 4.3

Montana

4.5 4.5 4.2 4.4 4.8 5.5 5.9 5.8 5.6 5.2 4.9 5.0

Nebraska

4.1 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.1 4.3 4.7 4.8 5.0 5.0 5.2 5.0

Nevada

4.3 4.3 4.2 3.7 3.5 3.5 3.8 4.1 4.4 4.8 4.8 4.6

New Hampshire

4.7 4.9 5.0 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.3 5.3 5.1 4.8 4.7 4.9

New Jersey

4.1 4.1 4.1 4.0 3.9 4.4 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.9 5.2 5.2

New Mexico

4.6 4.7 4.6 4.5 4.3 4.4 4.5 5.0 5.2 5.0 4.6 4.6

New York

3.7 3.7 3.8 3.6 3.5 3.5 3.8 4.0 4.0 3.7 3.6 3.5

North Carolina

4.8 4.7 4.3 4.1 3.9 4.1 4.4 4.5 4.7 4.9 4.8 4.6

North Dakota

5.1 5.6 5.6 4.7 4.4 4.7 4.8 4.8 4.6 4.5 4.2 4.0

Ohio

4.0 4.0 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.2

Oklahoma

4.0 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.6 4.9 5.1 5.5 5.2 4.8 4.5

Oregon

4.5 5.0 4.9 4.8 4.2 4.1 4.3 4.8 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.2

Pennsylvania

4.0 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.2 4.4 4.4 4.7 4.7 4.8 4.7 4.4

Rhode Island

4.1 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.2 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.6 4.4

South Carolina

4.1 4.4 4.6 4.6 4.5 4.5 4.7 5.0 5.4 5.3 5.3 5.1

South Dakota

3.8 3.9 3.9 4.1 4.2 4.5 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.0 4.8 4.6

Tennessee

3.8 4.0 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.5 4.7 4.7 4.4 4.3 4.2

Texas

3.6 3.6 3.6 3.4 3.1 3.3 3.6 4.0 4.4 4.6 4.6 4.4

Utah

4.1 4.3 4.5 4.6 4.5 4.4 4.2 4.3 4.5 4.3 4.2 4.2

Vermont

4.9 4.8 4.5 4.2 4.4 4.7 5.7 5.6 5.4 4.6 4.6 5.0

Virginia

4.7 4.7 4.8 4.8 4.7 4.8 4.7 4.9 4.9 5.0 4.9 5.0

Washington

3.9 3.9 3.9 3.7 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.7 3.7

West Virginia

5.0 5.1 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.4 5.4 5.9 6.5 6.6 6.2 5.8

Wisconsin

4.4 4.5 4.5 4.2 3.9 4.1 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.2 4.2 3.9

Wyoming

4.7 4.8 4.4 4.2 4.9 5.9 6.3 5.7 5.2 4.9 4.9 5.0

Hawaii and New York had the lowest job openings rates in December 2020, at 3.5 percent each. A total of 8 states and the District of Columbia had job openings rates of less than 4.0 percent in December 2020.

These data are from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and are not seasonally adjusted. State job openings data are experimental and subject to changes in estimation methods. To learn more, see "JOLTS Experimental State Estimates." Also see more charts based on job openings, hires, and separations data. The job openings rate is the number of job openings divided by the sum of job openings plus employment, expressed as a percentage.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, West Virginia had the highest job openings rate in December 2020 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/west-virginia-had-the-highest-job-openings-rate-in-december-2020.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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