Number of unemployed people per job opening 1.0 or fewer since January 2018

There were 7.3 million job openings on the last business day of October 2019 and about 5.9 million unemployed people during October. This yielded a ratio of unemployed people to job openings of 0.8 for October. Since January 2018, the number of unemployed people per job opening has ranged between 0.8 and 1.0.

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Chart Data Number of unemployed people per job opening, January 2009–October 2019 Month Number of unemployed people per job opening Number of unemployed Number of job openings Jan 2009 4.4 12,058,000 2,731,000 Feb 2009 4.5 12,898,000 2,838,000 Mar 2009 5.3 13,426,000 2,521,000 Apr 2009 5.9 13,853,000 2,343,000 May 2009 5.6 14,499,000 2,574,000 Jun 2009 5.8 14,707,000 2,517,000 Jul 2009 6.4 14,601,000 2,264,000 Aug 2009 6.3 14,814,000 2,365,000 Sep 2009 6.0 15,009,000 2,481,000 Oct 2009 6.3 15,352,000 2,422,000 Nov 2009 6.3 15,219,000 2,435,000 Dec 2009 6.1 15,098,000 2,487,000 Jan 2010 5.3 15,046,000 2,833,000 Feb 2010 5.7 15,113,000 2,651,000 Mar 2010 5.7 15,202,000 2,679,000 Apr 2010 4.8 15,325,000 3,217,000 May 2010 4.9 14,849,000 3,019,000 Jun 2010 5.1 14,474,000 2,813,000 Jul 2010 4.6 14,512,000 3,127,000 Aug 2010 4.8 14,648,000 3,025,000 Sep 2010 5.0 14,579,000 2,912,000 Oct 2010 4.5 14,516,000 3,256,000 Nov 2010 4.8 15,081,000 3,134,000 Dec 2010 4.8 14,348,000 2,969,000 Jan 2011 4.5 14,013,000 3,100,000 Feb 2011 4.3 13,820,000 3,213,000 Mar 2011 4.2 13,737,000 3,253,000 Apr 2011 4.2 13,957,000 3,337,000 May 2011 4.3 13,855,000 3,207,000 Jun 2011 4.0 13,962,000 3,467,000 Jul 2011 3.7 13,763,000 3,676,000 Aug 2011 4.1 13,818,000 3,358,000 Sep 2011 3.7 13,948,000 3,763,000 Oct 2011 3.7 13,594,000 3,650,000 Nov 2011 3.8 13,302,000 3,485,000 Dec 2011 3.6 13,093,000 3,662,000 Jan 2012 3.3 12,797,000 3,904,000 Feb 2012 3.6 12,813,000 3,605,000 Mar 2012 3.2 12,713,000 3,976,000 Apr 2012 3.3 12,646,000 3,878,000 May 2012 3.3 12,660,000 3,861,000 Jun 2012 3.2 12,692,000 3,916,000 Jul 2012 3.3 12,656,000 3,790,000 Aug 2012 3.2 12,471,000 3,839,000 Sep 2012 3.1 12,115,000 3,861,000 Oct 2012 3.2 12,124,000 3,808,000 Nov 2012 3.2 12,005,000 3,787,000 Dec 2012 3.2 12,298,000 3,840,000 Jan 2013 3.2 12,471,000 3,915,000 Feb 2013 3.0 11,950,000 3,981,000 Mar 2013 2.9 11,689,000 4,080,000 Apr 2013 2.9 11,760,000 4,078,000 May 2013 2.8 11,654,000 4,173,000 Jun 2013 2.8 11,751,000 4,166,000 Jul 2013 2.9 11,335,000 3,946,000 Aug 2013 2.7 11,279,000 4,112,000 Sep 2013 2.7 11,270,000 4,105,000 Oct 2013 2.6 11,136,000 4,268,000 Nov 2013 2.7 10,787,000 4,002,000 Dec 2013 2.6 10,404,000 3,996,000 Jan 2014 2.5 10,202,000 4,131,000 Feb 2014 2.4 10,349,000 4,347,000 Mar 2014 2.4 10,380,000 4,388,000 Apr 2014 2.1 9,702,000 4,662,000 May 2014 2.1 9,859,000 4,775,000 Jun 2014 1.9 9,460,000 4,999,000 Jul 2014 2.0 9,608,000 4,919,000 Aug 2014 1.8 9,599,000 5,383,000 Sep 2014 1.9 9,262,000 4,876,000 Oct 2014 1.8 8,990,000 5,066,000 Nov 2014 1.9 9,090,000 4,719,000 Dec 2014 1.8 8,717,000 4,981,000 Jan 2015 1.7 8,903,000 5,377,000 Feb 2015 1.6 8,610,000 5,410,000 Mar 2015 1.6 8,504,000 5,223,000 Apr 2015 1.5 8,526,000 5,726,000 May 2015 1.6 8,814,000 5,587,000 Jun 2015 1.6 8,249,000 5,259,000 Jul 2015 1.3 8,194,000 6,147,000 Aug 2015 1.4 7,990,000 5,517,000 Sep 2015 1.4 7,892,000 5,450,000 Oct 2015 1.4 7,918,000 5,846,000 Nov 2015 1.4 7,995,000 5,564,000 Dec 2015 1.4 7,916,000 5,678,000 Jan 2016 1.3 7,749,000 5,977,000 Feb 2016 1.4 7,771,000 5,747,000 Mar 2016 1.3 7,932,000 6,151,000 Apr 2016 1.4 7,928,000 5,872,000 May 2016 1.3 7,626,000 5,775,000 Jun 2016 1.3 7,795,000 5,778,000 Jul 2016 1.3 7,700,000 6,088,000 Aug 2016 1.4 7,817,000 5,720,000 Sep 2016 1.4 7,933,000 5,828,000 Oct 2016 1.4 7,819,000 5,616,000 Nov 2016 1.3 7,480,000 5,862,000 Dec 2016 1.3 7,503,000 5,831,000 Jan 2017 1.3 7,565,000 5,624,000 Feb 2017 1.3 7,437,000 5,875,000 Mar 2017 1.2 7,078,000 5,848,000 Apr 2017 1.1 7,019,000 6,157,000 May 2017 1.2 6,991,000 5,821,000 Jun 2017 1.1 6,948,000 6,371,000 Jul 2017 1.1 6,927,000 6,349,000 Aug 2017 1.1 7,115,000 6,352,000 Sep 2017 1.1 6,791,000 6,256,000 Oct 2017 1.0 6,588,000 6,405,000 Nov 2017 1.1 6,682,000 6,163,000 Dec 2017 1.1 6,572,000 6,204,000 Jan 2018 1.0 6,641,000 6,591,000 Feb 2018 1.0 6,687,000 6,530,000 Mar 2018 0.9 6,486,000 6,894,000 Apr 2018 0.9 6,335,000 7,106,000 May 2018 0.9 6,128,000 7,126,000 Jun 2018 0.9 6,537,000 7,393,000 Jul 2018 0.8 6,245,000 7,442,000 Aug 2018 0.8 6,197,000 7,342,000 Sep 2018 0.8 5,986,000 7,392,000 Oct 2018 0.8 6,112,000 7,593,000 Nov 2018 0.8 6,018,000 7,626,000 Dec 2018 0.8 6,294,000 7,479,000 Jan 2019 0.9 6,535,000 7,625,000 Feb 2019 0.9 6,235,000 7,142,000 Mar 2019 0.8 6,211,000 7,474,000 Apr 2019 0.8 5,824,000 7,372,000 May 2019 0.8 5,888,000 7,384,000 Jun 2019 0.8 5,975,000 7,248,000 Jul 2019 0.8 6,063,000 7,174,000 Aug 2019 0.8 6,044,000 7,301,000 Sep 2019 0.8 5,769,000 7,032,000 Oct 2019 0.8 5,855,000 7,267,000

Since 2009, the ratio of unemployed people per job opening has ranged from 0.8 during 2018 and 2019 to 6.4 in July 2009, a month after the end of the most recent recession.

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 — October 2019." Also see more charts made showing job openings, hires, and separations data.