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Job openings rate at 5.3 percent in October 2023

December 13, 2023

The job openings rate was 5.3 percent in October 2023, 0.3 percentage point lower than it was in the previous month. The rate was 2.1 percentage points lower than its peak of 7.4 percent in March 2022 and the lowest since the rate was 5.1 percent in February 2021.

Job openings rate, selected industries, October 2013–October 2023
Month Total nonfarm Total private Mining and logging Construction Manufacturing Trade, transportation, and utilities Information Financial activities

Oct 2013

3.0 3.2 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.9 4.4 3.2

Nov 2013

2.9 3.1 2.0 2.5 2.6 3.0 4.0 2.6

Dec 2013

2.9 3.2 2.6 2.0 2.4 3.1 4.0 3.0

Jan 2014

2.9 3.1 2.7 2.5 2.1 3.0 3.9 2.6

Feb 2014

3.1 3.3 2.9 2.3 2.3 3.3 3.8 3.0

Mar 2014

3.1 3.3 3.8 2.0 2.3 3.5 3.7 3.2

Apr 2014

3.2 3.4 2.7 1.9 2.2 3.5 4.0 3.3

May 2014

3.3 3.6 3.5 1.9 2.4 3.4 4.0 3.5

Jun 2014

3.5 3.7 3.3 2.5 2.5 3.5 3.6 4.2

Jul 2014

3.4 3.6 3.3 2.4 2.4 3.4 4.0 3.6

Aug 2014

3.7 4.0 3.5 2.0 2.6 4.3 3.9 4.1

Sep 2014

3.4 3.6 3.2 1.8 2.5 3.4 3.6 3.4

Oct 2014

3.5 3.7 3.7 2.3 2.3 3.4 3.0 4.4

Nov 2014

3.3 3.6 3.3 2.2 2.6 3.2 4.4 3.5

Dec 2014

3.5 3.8 2.2 2.2 2.4 3.3 3.8 3.4

Jan 2015

3.7 3.9 1.7 2.3 2.5 3.5 3.9 3.7

Feb 2015

3.7 4.0 1.5 2.6 2.5 3.8 4.5 4.0

Mar 2015

3.6 3.8 1.8 2.5 2.5 3.3 3.9 3.3

Apr 2015

3.8 4.1 1.7 2.3 2.6 3.6 3.8 4.3

May 2015

3.8 4.0 1.7 2.4 2.6 3.6 3.8 4.0

Jun 2015

3.6 3.8 2.2 2.2 2.3 3.5 3.9 3.3

Jul 2015

4.1 4.4 2.3 2.2 2.7 4.5 4.3 4.1

Aug 2015

3.7 4.0 1.8 2.2 2.5 3.7 4.0 3.8

Sep 2015

3.7 4.0 2.3 1.8 2.5 3.8 4.0 3.7

Oct 2015

3.9 4.2 2.1 2.0 2.5 3.9 3.9 3.9

Nov 2015

3.8 4.1 2.2 1.8 2.4 3.7 2.5 4.2

Dec 2015

3.9 4.2 2.4 2.3 2.6 3.7 3.9 4.8

Jan 2016

4.0 4.3 1.7 2.5 2.5 3.8 3.9 4.1

Feb 2016

3.9 4.2 1.6 2.8 2.6 3.8 3.3 3.9

Mar 2016

4.1 4.4 1.6 3.0 2.6 3.8 3.1 3.8

Apr 2016

3.9 4.2 1.7 2.6 3.0 3.9 2.9 4.1

May 2016

3.9 4.1 1.7 2.6 2.8 3.8 3.9 3.9

Jun 2016

3.8 4.1 1.7 2.6 2.9 3.8 3.1 3.7

Jul 2016

4.0 4.2 1.4 3.0 2.7 3.7 2.8 4.0

Aug 2016

3.8 4.1 1.7 2.7 2.6 3.6 2.7 4.2

Sep 2016

3.9 4.2 2.3 3.7 2.6 3.6 3.5 4.1

Oct 2016

3.7 4.0 1.6 3.1 2.4 3.6 2.9 3.6

Nov 2016

4.0 4.2 3.1 2.9 2.7 3.5 2.8 4.1

Dec 2016

3.9 4.2 3.9 2.6 2.9 3.8 2.8 4.5

Jan 2017

3.7 4.0 4.1 2.3 2.9 3.5 3.0 4.4

Feb 2017

3.9 4.2 3.8 2.7 2.9 3.7 2.4 3.9

Mar 2017

3.8 4.1 2.8 2.5 3.1 3.9 3.0 4.1

Apr 2017

4.0 4.3 4.3 2.9 2.9 3.6 3.5 5.0

May 2017

3.8 4.1 3.7 2.4 2.7 3.7 3.8 4.1

Jun 2017

4.1 4.4 3.9 2.8 3.1 3.9 3.8 4.3

Jul 2017

4.1 4.4 4.1 2.9 2.9 4.0 3.4 4.0

Aug 2017

4.1 4.4 4.1 2.9 3.3 4.4 4.1 3.5

Sep 2017

4.1 4.4 3.6 2.7 3.4 4.2 3.6 5.0

Oct 2017

4.2 4.5 4.0 2.8 3.3 4.1 3.1 4.6

Nov 2017

4.1 4.4 3.8 3.3 3.4 4.5 3.3 4.2

Dec 2017

4.1 4.4 3.2 3.2 3.1 4.9 4.3 4.1

Jan 2018

4.3 4.6 3.7 3.4 3.4 4.8 4.3 4.4

Feb 2018

4.2 4.5 3.9 2.9 3.4 4.5 4.4 4.5

Mar 2018

4.4 4.7 3.7 3.0 3.2 4.9 4.4 4.7

Apr 2018

4.4 4.8 4.6 3.0 3.4 5.2 5.9 3.4

May 2018

4.5 4.8 3.8 3.5 3.5 5.1 4.3 4.1

Jun 2018

4.6 4.9 3.7 3.8 3.5 5.1 4.5 4.1

Jul 2018

4.6 4.9 3.6 3.6 3.5 5.1 5.0 4.8

Aug 2018

4.6 4.9 4.0 3.7 3.8 4.5 4.9 4.6

Sep 2018

4.7 5.1 3.9 4.1 3.6 5.2 4.1 4.3

Oct 2018

4.7 5.0 4.3 3.6 3.8 4.9 4.8 4.5

Nov 2018

4.8 5.2 4.0 4.1 3.9 5.4 4.5 4.7

Dec 2018

4.8 5.1 3.4 5.1 3.5 4.9 4.3 4.0

Jan 2019

4.8 5.1 4.1 4.0 3.3 4.9 4.7 4.4

Feb 2019

4.5 4.8 3.8 3.8 3.4 4.4 4.6 3.9

Mar 2019

4.7 4.9 4.0 4.5 3.3 4.6 5.0 4.1

Apr 2019

4.6 4.8 3.8 4.9 3.4 4.7 3.8 3.8

May 2019

4.6 4.9 3.6 4.5 3.5 4.6 4.3 4.1

Jun 2019

4.5 4.8 3.7 3.7 3.5 4.7 4.3 4.1

Jul 2019

4.5 4.8 4.8 4.0 3.4 4.5 5.3 4.1

Aug 2019

4.5 4.8 4.1 4.1 3.3 4.5 4.4 4.2

Sep 2019

4.5 4.7 3.9 4.3 3.3 4.4 5.8 4.1

Oct 2019

4.6 4.8 2.8 4.1 3.0 5.0 4.8 4.6

Nov 2019

4.4 4.5 2.7 3.1 3.1 4.3 4.7 4.1

Dec 2019

4.2 4.4 2.0 3.6 2.8 4.0 4.6 3.6

Jan 2020

4.5 4.7 2.6 3.8 3.1 4.3 4.3 4.5

Feb 2020

4.4 4.6 3.2 3.9 3.0 4.2 4.5 4.6

Mar 2020

3.7 3.8 1.6 2.9 2.2 3.7 3.9 3.9

Apr 2020

3.5 3.6 1.5 2.8 2.6 3.5 4.3 3.1

May 2020

4.0 4.2 1.9 3.8 2.7 4.1 3.1 3.5

Jun 2020

4.3 4.5 2.7 3.2 2.8 4.1 3.5 3.7

Jul 2020

4.5 4.6 1.5 4.0 3.2 4.5 3.2 3.3

Aug 2020

4.3 4.5 1.8 3.3 3.7 4.4 3.3 3.2

Sep 2020

4.4 4.6 2.5 3.2 3.8 4.2 4.1 3.4

Oct 2020

4.6 4.8 2.8 3.3 4.1 4.3 4.5 3.3

Nov 2020

4.6 4.8 2.3 3.5 3.9 4.4 4.0 3.2

Dec 2020

4.6 4.9 2.9 3.4 3.9 4.4 4.2 3.2

Jan 2021

4.8 5.0 3.3 3.9 4.1 4.6 5.9 3.4

Feb 2021

5.1 5.5 3.2 3.5 4.6 4.9 3.8 3.7

Mar 2021

5.5 5.8 4.1 4.3 5.8 5.7 3.7 3.9

Apr 2021

6.0 6.4 3.6 4.0 6.5 5.9 4.3 4.8

May 2021

6.4 6.8 4.2 3.9 6.8 5.9 5.2 4.4

Jun 2021

6.5 6.9 4.0 4.2 6.7 6.4 5.0 3.8

Jul 2021

6.9 7.4 5.1 4.6 6.9 6.3 6.9 6.0

Aug 2021

6.9 7.5 5.5 4.9 6.4 6.8 7.1 5.2

Sep 2021

6.9 7.3 5.1 4.7 7.0 6.6 6.8 5.2

Oct 2021

7.1 7.6 5.0 5.1 7.0 6.5 6.6 4.5

Nov 2021

7.0 7.4 5.5 5.1 6.3 6.4 6.9 5.6

Dec 2021

7.3 7.7 6.2 5.4 6.3 6.7 7.8 5.4

Jan 2022

7.1 7.5 5.8 5.0 6.7 6.1 7.4 5.7

Feb 2022

7.1 7.5 5.4 5.2 6.1 6.2 7.9 5.3

Mar 2022

7.4 7.8 6.4 5.1 6.6 7.0 7.8 5.5

Apr 2022

7.2 7.6 6.5 5.2 7.4 6.4 8.3 5.6

May 2022

7.0 7.4 5.3 4.8 6.1 6.7 7.3 5.9

Jun 2022

6.7 7.1 5.4 4.7 6.2 5.3 6.7 6.6

Jul 2022

6.9 7.3 5.3 4.3 6.4 5.8 7.5 6.6

Aug 2022

6.2 6.5 3.1 4.2 6.1 5.2 6.8 5.4

Sep 2022

6.6 6.9 4.6 5.6 5.9 5.3 6.6 5.1

Oct 2022

6.4 6.7 6.2 4.8 5.4 5.2 6.9 6.2

Nov 2022

6.5 6.8 6.3 4.3 6.0 5.1 6.4 6.0

Dec 2022

6.8 7.1 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 3.3 6.3

Jan 2023

6.4 6.7 5.3 3.5 5.3 6.0 4.3 4.7

Feb 2023

6.0 6.3 5.8 4.9 5.2 5.5 5.2 4.8

Mar 2023

5.9 6.2 4.6 3.8 5.1 4.7 5.5 5.0

Apr 2023

6.2 6.5 5.3 4.2 4.9 5.8 5.5 5.8

May 2023

5.8 6.0 4.7 4.6 4.5 5.4 5.8 4.5

Jun 2023

5.5 5.7 4.6 4.6 4.3 4.8 4.9 4.8

Jul 2023

5.4 5.6 3.9 4.2 4.0 4.8 7.6 4.9

Aug 2023

5.7 5.9 4.5 4.5 4.4 4.3 6.1 5.7

Sep 2023

5.6 5.9 5.2 5.1 4.4 4.4 4.1 6.3

Oct 2023

5.3 5.5 4.0 5.0 4.3 4.1 5.3 4.2

Note: Data are seasonally adjusted.

 Job openings rate, selected industries, October 2013–October 2023 (continued)
Month Professional and business services Education and health services Leisure and hospitality Other services Government Federal State and local

Oct 2013

4.2 3.1 3.6 3.0 1.8 1.7 1.8

Nov 2013

3.8 3.0 3.6 2.6 1.8 2.1 1.8

Dec 2013

4.0 2.8 3.9 3.2 1.6 1.6 1.6

Jan 2014

3.6 3.2 4.0 2.6 1.7 1.8 1.7

Feb 2014

4.3 3.3 3.7 2.6 1.8 1.9 1.8

Mar 2014

3.9 3.4 3.8 1.9 1.9 2.2 1.9

Apr 2014

4.2 3.3 4.3 2.6 2.0 2.1 1.9

May 2014

4.3 3.7 4.6 2.5 2.0 2.5 1.9

Jun 2014

4.6 3.8 4.4 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.3

Jul 2014

4.5 3.9 4.1 2.5 2.1 2.2 2.1

Aug 2014

4.8 4.1 4.6 3.4 2.0 2.7 1.9

Sep 2014

4.7 3.9 4.6 2.7 2.1 2.6 2.0

Oct 2014

4.7 4.0 4.3 3.1 1.9 2.6 1.8

Nov 2014

4.8 3.6 4.1 3.1 2.1 2.8 2.0

Dec 2014

5.1 4.2 4.5 2.9 2.2 2.7 2.2

Jan 2015

5.0 4.1 5.1 3.2 2.3 3.0 2.2

Feb 2015

5.3 4.1 4.8 2.9 2.3 3.0 2.2

Mar 2015

5.3 4.0 4.6 3.2 2.2 2.9 2.1

Apr 2015

6.0 4.4 4.6 2.8 2.3 3.3 2.2

May 2015

5.9 4.3 4.4 2.9 2.3 2.9 2.2

Jun 2015

5.3 4.4 4.2 3.3 2.1 3.2 1.9

Jul 2015

5.5 5.0 4.8 3.4 2.4 3.5 2.3

Aug 2015

5.2 4.5 4.4 3.5 2.2 3.2 2.0

Sep 2015

5.3 4.6 4.4 3.2 2.1 2.6 2.0

Oct 2015

5.8 4.6 4.9 3.2 2.3 3.4 2.2

Nov 2015

6.1 4.7 4.7 2.4 2.3 3.4 2.2

Dec 2015

5.7 4.6 4.6 3.6 2.4 3.4 2.2

Jan 2016

6.2 5.0 4.7 3.7 2.3 3.2 2.1

Feb 2016

5.8 4.4 4.7 3.9 2.2 3.4 2.0

Mar 2016

6.9 4.6 5.1 3.8 2.2 3.2 2.0

Apr 2016

5.0 4.7 4.7 4.7 2.2 3.3 2.0

May 2016

5.5 4.6 4.6 2.9 2.4 3.4 2.2

Jun 2016

5.4 4.5 4.8 3.6 2.1 3.0 2.0

Jul 2016

5.8 4.7 4.6 3.5 2.6 3.3 2.5

Aug 2016

5.2 4.4 4.9 3.8 2.2 3.4 2.1

Sep 2016

5.6 4.6 4.5 3.3 2.3 3.8 2.1

Oct 2016

4.6 5.1 4.6 3.2 2.1 3.1 2.0

Nov 2016

5.7 5.0 4.6 3.6 2.5 3.2 2.4

Dec 2016

5.1 5.0 4.5 4.1 2.4 5.2 2.0

Jan 2017

4.6 4.8 4.4 4.0 2.2 2.8 2.1

Feb 2017

4.6 5.1 5.3 4.4 2.2 2.7 2.1

Mar 2017

4.7 4.6 4.5 4.9 2.2 2.9 2.1

Apr 2017

4.9 4.6 5.0 6.2 2.4 2.9 2.3

May 2017

4.7 4.5 5.0 4.2 2.4 3.9 2.2

Jun 2017

5.7 4.8 5.0 4.2 2.5 3.5 2.4

Jul 2017

5.2 4.7 5.1 5.5 2.4 3.6 2.2

Aug 2017

5.1 4.8 5.3 4.2 2.2 2.8 2.1

Sep 2017

5.1 4.7 4.7 4.8 2.5 3.1 2.4

Oct 2017

6.0 4.6 4.7 4.5 2.4 3.0 2.3

Nov 2017

4.8 4.6 5.1 4.2 2.3 2.7 2.3

Dec 2017

4.5 4.7 5.2 3.1 2.5 3.3 2.4

Jan 2018

5.1 4.7 5.4 3.5 2.6 3.9 2.4

Feb 2018

5.1 4.8 5.3 3.9 2.6 2.5 2.6

Mar 2018

5.4 5.0 5.4 3.7 2.7 3.6 2.6

Apr 2018

5.4 4.9 5.6 3.7 2.6 2.8 2.5

May 2018

5.6 4.9 5.7 4.3 2.6 3.5 2.5

Jun 2018

5.7 5.1 6.1 3.8 2.8 3.8 2.6

Jul 2018

5.6 5.0 5.9 3.7 2.8 4.0 2.6

Aug 2018

5.9 5.0 5.8 3.8 3.1 4.2 3.0

Sep 2018

6.0 5.1 6.2 4.0 2.7 3.1 2.6

Oct 2018

6.0 5.0 5.8 4.8 2.7 3.6 2.5

Nov 2018

6.0 5.0 5.9 4.5 2.9 4.1 2.8

Dec 2018

6.0 5.2 6.1 4.5 2.9 4.0 2.8

Jan 2019

6.2 5.3 6.5 2.9 3.1 4.2 2.9

Feb 2019

6.1 4.9 5.6 3.8 3.0 4.6 2.8

Mar 2019

5.9 5.5 5.8 4.0 3.1 4.1 2.9

Apr 2019

5.2 5.4 5.8 3.9 3.1 5.0 2.8

May 2019

5.7 5.4 5.9 4.5 2.9 3.7 2.8

Jun 2019

5.7 5.1 5.4 4.1 3.0 3.9 2.9

Jul 2019

5.6 5.0 5.5 4.2 2.8 3.9 2.6

Aug 2019

5.7 5.2 5.5 4.1 3.2 3.8 3.1

Sep 2019

5.5 4.9 5.8 4.4 3.2 3.9 3.1

Oct 2019

5.3 5.1 5.6 4.4 3.4 4.5 3.3

Nov 2019

5.3 5.1 5.5 3.7 3.3 4.0 3.2

Dec 2019

5.4 4.8 5.2 4.1 3.3 3.4 3.2

Jan 2020

5.7 5.1 5.2 4.4 3.6 5.0 3.4

Feb 2020

5.7 4.9 5.3 3.3 3.4 3.7 3.3

Mar 2020

4.8 4.5 3.8 2.7 2.9 3.8 2.8

Apr 2020

4.2 4.3 3.9 2.1 2.9 3.7 2.8

May 2020

4.8 4.4 6.5 3.9 2.9 2.9 2.9

Jun 2020

5.0 4.7 6.9 4.8 3.1 3.8 2.9

Jul 2020

5.4 4.9 6.0 4.8 3.7 9.0 2.8

Aug 2020

5.4 5.0 5.7 4.2 3.1 3.6 3.0

Sep 2020

5.8 5.0 5.7 4.3 3.2 3.2 3.2

Oct 2020

5.9 5.4 5.9 4.2 3.2 3.3 3.2

Nov 2020

6.2 5.3 6.0 4.1 3.2 3.5 3.1

Dec 2020

6.8 5.1 5.7 3.9 3.0 3.6 2.9

Jan 2021

6.4 5.5 5.5 4.3 3.4 3.6 3.3

Feb 2021

6.6 6.4 6.7 5.5 3.1 3.2 3.1

Mar 2021

6.7 5.9 7.6 4.5 3.8 4.4 3.6

Apr 2021

7.5 6.3 8.4 5.7 4.2 4.9 4.0

May 2021

8.0 6.8 9.2 8.1 4.0 4.6 3.9

Jun 2021

8.1 6.9 9.7 7.0 4.0 4.4 4.0

Jul 2021

8.9 7.4 10.1 7.4 4.0 3.6 4.1

Aug 2021

8.9 6.9 10.8 7.6 3.8 4.4 3.7

Sep 2021

8.2 7.5 9.8 7.7 4.2 4.4 4.1

Oct 2021

9.3 8.2 10.0 7.6 4.2 4.5 4.1

Nov 2021

8.6 8.1 9.8 7.4 4.3 5.1 4.2

Dec 2021

8.9 8.4 10.8 7.0 4.8 4.8 4.8

Jan 2022

9.1 8.1 9.9 7.8 4.5 4.4 4.5

Feb 2022

9.2 8.3 10.1 6.7 4.7 5.5 4.6

Mar 2022

9.5 8.6 9.7 6.8 4.4 4.2 4.4

Apr 2022

9.3 8.4 8.8 7.0 4.4 3.6 4.6

May 2022

8.6 8.2 9.1 6.7 4.6 4.5 4.6

Jun 2022

8.8 8.1 8.6 7.2 4.2 3.4 4.3

Jul 2022

8.4 8.4 8.9 7.5 4.8 5.7 4.6

Aug 2022

7.6 7.9 8.1 4.6 4.4 4.5 4.4

Sep 2022

8.7 8.3 8.8 4.0 4.6 6.1 4.4

Oct 2022

7.7 8.0 9.1 4.5 4.1 4.2 4.1

Nov 2022

8.5 7.7 9.1 5.2 4.6 4.6 4.6

Dec 2022

8.4 7.7 10.2 4.9 4.7 5.1 4.7

Jan 2023

8.4 7.5 8.8 5.8 4.4 5.5 4.2

Feb 2023

7.5 7.0 8.0 5.7 4.3 4.6 4.3

Mar 2023

7.3 7.2 8.1 5.9 4.4 4.4 4.4

Apr 2023

7.0 8.0 8.1 5.8 4.4 4.9 4.3

May 2023

6.9 7.0 7.3 5.1 4.7 5.9 4.5

Jun 2023

6.2 7.0 6.6 6.0 4.7 5.0 4.6

Jul 2023

5.9 6.9 6.9 5.0 4.1 4.9 4.0

Aug 2023

7.0 7.2 6.9 6.7 4.5 5.6 4.3

Sep 2023

6.7 6.9 7.5 5.1 4.1 5.2 3.9

Oct 2023

7.1 6.1 6.8 4.2 4.1 5.6 3.9

Note: Data are seasonally adjusted.

In October 2023, the job openings rates in professional and business services (7.1 percent) and leisure and hospitality (6.8 percent) were among the highest. In contrast, the job openings rates in state and local government (3.9 percent) and mining and logging (4.0 percent) were among the lowest.

The job openings rate in education and health services was 6.1 percent in October 2023, down from 7.2 percent in August 2023. The job openings rate in other services was 4.2 percent in October 2023, down from 6.7 percent in August 2023.

From September 2023 to October 2023, the job openings rate in financial activities fell 2.1 percentage points.

These 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 "Job Openings and Labor Turnover — October 2023." We also have more charts of job openings, hires, and separations data

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Job openings rate at 5.3 percent in October 2023 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/job-openings-rate-at-5-3-percent-in-october-2023.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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