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Job openings decreased 1.1 million over the year ended March 2024

May 13, 2024

On the last business day of March 2024, there were 8.5 million job openings, little changed from the previous month but 1.1 million fewer than a year earlier. The job openings rate was 5.1 percent.

Total nonfarm job openings, hires, and separations, seasonally adjusted
Month Job openings Hires Separations

Mar 2014

4,388,000 4,763,000 4,518,000

Apr 2014

4,566,000 4,880,000 4,597,000

May 2014

4,747,000 4,808,000 4,572,000

Jun 2014

4,982,000 4,925,000 4,612,000

Jul 2014

4,846,000 5,008,000 4,748,000

Aug 2014

5,349,000 4,810,000 4,623,000

Sep 2014

4,914,000 5,149,000 4,855,000

Oct 2014

5,012,000 5,111,000 4,937,000

Nov 2014

4,843,000 4,978,000 4,682,000

Dec 2014

5,130,000 5,192,000 4,827,000

Jan 2015

5,344,000 5,061,000 4,886,000

Feb 2015

5,466,000 5,127,000 4,869,000

Mar 2015

5,210,000 5,126,000 5,102,000

Apr 2015

5,598,000 5,196,000 4,944,000

May 2015

5,563,000 5,142,000 4,825,000

Jun 2015

5,248,000 5,125,000 4,978,000

Jul 2015

6,056,000 5,150,000 4,848,000

Aug 2015

5,467,000 5,163,000 5,032,000

Sep 2015

5,488,000 5,287,000 5,110,000

Oct 2015

5,773,000 5,338,000 5,032,000

Nov 2015

5,708,000 5,358,000 5,089,000

Dec 2015

5,845,000 5,540,000 5,225,000

Jan 2016

6,012,000 5,220,000 5,099,000

Feb 2016

5,770,000 5,470,000 5,265,000

Mar 2016

6,129,000 5,359,000 5,133,000

Apr 2016

5,803,000 5,294,000 5,110,000

May 2016

5,777,000 5,197,000 5,176,000

Jun 2016

5,742,000 5,281,000 5,118,000

Jul 2016

5,962,000 5,426,000 5,065,000

Aug 2016

5,677,000 5,327,000 5,204,000

Sep 2016

5,868,000 5,306,000 4,985,000

Oct 2016

5,591,000 5,210,000 5,125,000

Nov 2016

5,971,000 5,308,000 5,139,000

Dec 2016

5,964,000 5,343,000 5,071,000

Jan 2017

5,617,000 5,499,000 5,320,000

Feb 2017

5,923,000 5,350,000 5,176,000

Mar 2017

5,811,000 5,395,000 5,280,000

Apr 2017

6,091,000 5,272,000 5,091,000

May 2017

5,826,000 5,477,000 5,270,000

Jun 2017

6,305,000 5,635,000 5,463,000

Jul 2017

6,238,000 5,497,000 5,338,000

Aug 2017

6,276,000 5,519,000 5,334,000

Sep 2017

6,320,000 5,450,000 5,289,000

Oct 2017

6,408,000 5,581,000 5,397,000

Nov 2017

6,271,000 5,494,000 5,283,000

Dec 2017

6,336,000 5,421,000 5,249,000

Jan 2018

6,621,000 5,512,000 5,288,000

Feb 2018

6,552,000 5,624,000 5,319,000

Mar 2018

6,818,000 5,623,000 5,500,000

Apr 2018

6,877,000 5,590,000 5,441,000

May 2018

7,016,000 5,859,000 5,492,000

Jun 2018

7,230,000 5,760,000 5,566,000

Jul 2018

7,190,000 5,649,000 5,577,000

Aug 2018

7,208,000 5,815,000 5,543,000

Sep 2018

7,411,000 5,625,000 5,494,000

Oct 2018

7,304,000 5,907,000 5,602,000

Nov 2018

7,594,000 5,826,000 5,793,000

Dec 2018

7,489,000 5,768,000 5,554,000

Jan 2019

7,502,000 5,786,000 5,549,000

Feb 2019

7,066,000 5,704,000 5,653,000

Mar 2019

7,317,000 5,689,000 5,543,000

Apr 2019

7,272,000 6,016,000 5,777,000

May 2019

7,275,000 5,686,000 5,556,000

Jun 2019

7,194,000 5,801,000 5,574,000

Jul 2019

7,042,000 5,871,000 5,839,000

Aug 2019

7,178,000 5,900,000 5,657,000

Sep 2019

7,124,000 5,963,000 5,755,000

Oct 2019

7,289,000 5,781,000 5,631,000

Nov 2019

6,888,000 5,847,000 5,675,000

Dec 2019

6,699,000 5,951,000 5,771,000

Jan 2020

7,170,000 5,968,000 5,742,000

Feb 2020

6,974,000 5,997,000 5,736,000

Mar 2020

5,924,000 5,195,000 16,805,000

Apr 2020

4,637,000 4,016,000 11,499,000

May 2020

5,593,000 8,136,000 4,723,000

Jun 2020

6,156,000 7,461,000 5,152,000

Jul 2020

6,491,000 6,304,000 5,219,000

Aug 2020

6,369,000 5,993,000 4,815,000

Sep 2020

6,505,000 5,974,000 5,097,000

Oct 2020

6,838,000 6,090,000 5,349,000

Nov 2020

6,857,000 5,883,000 5,710,000

Dec 2020

6,758,000 5,573,000 5,620,000

Jan 2021

7,185,000 5,607,000 5,212,000

Feb 2021

7,818,000 5,832,000 5,400,000

Mar 2021

8,519,000 6,161,000 5,464,000

Apr 2021

9,282,000 6,178,000 5,702,000

May 2021

9,905,000 6,021,000 5,543,000

Jun 2021

10,317,000 6,581,000 5,678,000

Jul 2021

10,991,000 6,723,000 5,826,000

Aug 2021

10,884,000 6,374,000 5,884,000

Sep 2021

10,875,000 6,644,000 6,093,000

Oct 2021

11,365,000 6,682,000 5,813,000

Nov 2021

11,178,000 6,816,000 6,221,000

Dec 2021

11,511,000 6,618,000 6,080,000

Jan 2022

11,243,000 6,421,000 6,258,000

Feb 2022

11,700,000 6,862,000 6,040,000

Mar 2022

12,182,000 6,619,000 6,193,000

Apr 2022

11,773,000 6,576,000 6,176,000

May 2022

11,473,000 6,465,000 6,128,000

Jun 2022

11,204,000 6,449,000 5,980,000

Jul 2022

11,537,000 6,457,000 5,852,000

Aug 2022

10,119,000 6,453,000 6,181,000

Sep 2022

10,784,000 6,188,000 5,831,000

Oct 2022

10,526,000 6,118,000 5,779,000

Nov 2022

10,702,000 6,106,000 5,884,000

Dec 2022

11,000,000 6,143,000 5,943,000

Jan 2023

10,425,000 6,374,000 6,017,000

Feb 2023

9,849,000 6,058,000 5,833,000

Mar 2023

9,623,000 5,955,000 5,917,000

Apr 2023

9,904,000 5,951,000 5,569,000

May 2023

9,311,000 6,171,000 5,846,000

Jun 2023

9,125,000 5,895,000 5,639,000

Jul 2023

8,805,000 5,733,000 5,646,000

Aug 2023

9,358,000 5,888,000 5,609,000

Sep 2023

9,307,000 5,851,000 5,522,000

Oct 2023

8,685,000 5,814,000 5,630,000

Nov 2023

8,931,000 5,569,000 5,413,000

Dec 2023

8,889,000 5,787,000 5,419,000

Jan 2024

8,748,000 5,698,000 5,449,000

Feb 2024

8,813,000 5,781,000 5,539,000

Mar 2024

8,488,000 5,500,000 5,200,000

The number of hires, at 5.5 million, changed little in March 2024 but decreased by 455,000 over the year. The hires rate was 3.5 percent.

There were 5.2 million total separations in March 2024, 339,000 fewer than a month earlier. Of the separations, 3.3 million were quits, 1.5 million were layoffs and discharges, and 345,000 were other separations. The total separations rate in March 2024 was 3.3 percent.

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 — March 2024." 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 decreased 1.1 million over the year ended March 2024 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/job-openings-decreased-1-1-million-over-the-year-ended-march-2024.htm (visited December 05, 2024).

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