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More job openings than unemployed people since May 2021

March 10, 2023

There were 10.8 million job openings on the last business day of January 2023, while the number of unemployed was 5.7 million in January. This yielded a ratio of unemployed people to job openings of 0.5 for January. The number of unemployed people per job opening has been 0.9 or lower since May 2021.

Number of unemployed people per job opening, January 2018–January 2023, seasonally adjusted
Month Number of unemployed people
per job opening
Number of unemployed
(Civilian unemployment)
Number of
nonfarm job openings

Jan 2018

1.0 6,489,000 6,621,000

Feb 2018

1.0 6,581,000 6,552,000

Mar 2018

0.9 6,472,000 6,818,000

Apr 2018

0.9 6,459,000 6,877,000

May 2018

0.9 6,196,000 7,016,000

Jun 2018

0.9 6,447,000 7,230,000

Jul 2018

0.9 6,195,000 7,190,000

Aug 2018

0.9 6,156,000 7,208,000

Sep 2018

0.8 6,073,000 7,411,000

Oct 2018

0.9 6,211,000 7,304,000

Nov 2018

0.8 6,115,000 7,594,000

Dec 2018

0.9 6,389,000 7,489,000

Jan 2019

0.9 6,439,000 7,517,000

Feb 2019

0.9 6,115,000 7,072,000

Mar 2019

0.8 6,182,000 7,337,000

Apr 2019

0.8 5,911,000 7,191,000

May 2019

0.8 5,941,000 7,311,000

Jun 2019

0.8 5,909,000 7,139,000

Jul 2019

0.9 6,008,000 7,051,000

Aug 2019

0.8 5,981,000 7,172,000

Sep 2019

0.8 5,775,000 7,160,000

Oct 2019

0.8 5,957,000 7,325,000

Nov 2019

0.9 5,911,000 6,919,000

Dec 2019

0.9 5,870,000 6,709,000

Jan 2020

0.8 5,804,000 7,184,000

Feb 2020

0.8 5,708,000 6,995,000

Mar 2020

1.2 7,184,000 5,794,000

Apr 2020

4.9 23,050,000 4,686,000

May 2020

3.8 20,939,000 5,581,000

Jun 2020

2.9 17,624,000 6,119,000

Jul 2020

2.5 16,324,000 6,514,000

Aug 2020

2.1 13,521,000 6,360,000

Sep 2020

1.9 12,599,000 6,512,000

Oct 2020

1.6 11,090,000 6,820,000

Nov 2020

1.6 10,760,000 6,875,000

Dec 2020

1.6 10,795,000 6,854,000

Jan 2021

1.4 10,155,000 7,175,000

Feb 2021

1.3 9,982,000 7,760,000

Mar 2021

1.2 9,712,000 8,399,000

Apr 2021

1.0 9,737,000 9,288,000

May 2021

0.9 9,257,000 9,840,000

Jun 2021

0.9 9,508,000 10,069,000

Jul 2021

0.8 8,704,000 10,882,000

Aug 2021

0.8 8,324,000 10,960,000

Sep 2021

0.7 7,677,000 10,882,000

Oct 2021

0.6 7,345,000 11,368,000

Nov 2021

0.6 6,780,000 11,232,000

Dec 2021

0.5 6,329,000 11,826,000

Jan 2022

0.6 6,511,000 11,487,000

Feb 2022

0.5 6,272,000 11,601,000

Mar 2022

0.5 5,972,000 12,027,000

Apr 2022

0.5 5,968,000 11,755,000

May 2022

0.5 5,979,000 11,443,000

Jun 2022

0.5 5,945,000 10,961,000

Jul 2022

0.5 5,718,000 11,380,000

Aug 2022

0.6 6,021,000 10,198,000

Sep 2022

0.5 5,770,000 10,854,000

Oct 2022

0.6 6,053,000 10,471,000

Nov 2022

0.6 6,000,000 10,746,000

Dec 2022

0.5 5,722,000 11,234,000

Jan 2023

0.5 5,694,000 10,824,000

The ratio of unemployed people to job openings ranged from 0.8 to 1.0 during 2018 and 2019. Over the past 5 years, the number of unemployed people per job opening reached a high of 4.9 in April 2020, when there were 23.1 million unemployed people and 4.7 million job openings. Since October 2021, the ratio has been 0.5 or 0.6 every month.

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 — January 2023." Also see job openings, hires, and separations data charts. The unemployed people per job openings ratio shows whether the labor market is tight or slack. When ratios equal 1.0, there is approximately 1 unemployed person per job opening. When less than 1.0, the labor market is tight, as job openings outnumber the unemployed. When greater than 1.0, there are more unemployed people than available jobs.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, More job openings than unemployed people since May 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/more-job-openings-than-unemployed-people-since-may-2021.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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