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Job openings little changed at 6.0 million in October 2017

December 14, 2017

The number of job openings was 6.0 million on the last business day of October 2017, little changed from the previous month. The number of hires increased to 5.6 million over the month, and the number of separations was little changed, at 5.2 million.

Number of job openings in nonfarm, total private, and government, October 2007–October 2017
Month Total nonfarm job openings Total private job openings Government job openings

Oct 2007

4,300,000 3,881,000 418,000

Nov 2007

4,156,000 3,730,000 426,000

Dec 2007

4,123,000 3,713,000 410,000

Jan 2008

4,260,000 3,858,000 402,000

Feb 2008

4,042,000 3,619,000 423,000

Mar 2008

4,001,000 3,574,000 426,000

Apr 2008

4,098,000 3,703,000 395,000

May 2008

3,960,000 3,486,000 474,000

Jun 2008

3,767,000 3,335,000 432,000

Jul 2008

3,821,000 3,412,000 409,000

Aug 2008

3,665,000 3,245,000 420,000

Sep 2008

3,264,000 2,854,000 410,000

Oct 2008

3,292,000 2,910,000 382,000

Nov 2008

2,956,000 2,594,000 362,000

Dec 2008

2,830,000 2,545,000 285,000

Jan 2009

2,767,000 2,387,000 380,000

Feb 2009

2,791,000 2,441,000 351,000

Mar 2009

2,491,000 2,131,000 359,000

Apr 2009

2,357,000 1,977,000 379,000

May 2009

2,427,000 2,135,000 293,000

Jun 2009

2,428,000 2,101,000 327,000

Jul 2009

2,196,000 1,917,000 279,000

Aug 2009

2,306,000 1,989,000 317,000

Sep 2009

2,478,000 2,208,000 271,000

Oct 2009

2,400,000 1,996,000 404,000

Nov 2009

2,350,000 2,010,000 340,000

Dec 2009

2,407,000 2,090,000 317,000

Jan 2010

2,636,000 2,251,000 385,000

Feb 2010

2,578,000 2,230,000 348,000

Mar 2010

2,666,000 2,251,000 416,000

Apr 2010

3,220,000 2,571,000 648,000

May 2010

2,891,000 2,511,000 380,000

Jun 2010

2,664,000 2,357,000 307,000

Jul 2010

2,965,000 2,645,000 320,000

Aug 2010

2,920,000 2,588,000 332,000

Sep 2010

2,767,000 2,457,000 309,000

Oct 2010

3,033,000 2,685,000 348,000

Nov 2010

2,914,000 2,617,000 298,000

Dec 2010

2,857,000 2,469,000 388,000

Jan 2011

2,939,000 2,611,000 328,000

Feb 2011

3,056,000 2,754,000 302,000

Mar 2011

3,130,000 2,797,000 333,000

Apr 2011

3,287,000 2,948,000 339,000

May 2011

3,114,000 2,826,000 289,000

Jun 2011

3,224,000 2,877,000 347,000

Jul 2011

3,475,000 3,161,000 314,000

Aug 2011

3,168,000 2,839,000 330,000

Sep 2011

3,495,000 3,108,000 387,000

Oct 2011

3,421,000 3,059,000 362,000

Nov 2011

3,153,000 2,820,000 333,000

Dec 2011

3,369,000 3,023,000 346,000

Jan 2012

3,725,000 3,381,000 343,000

Feb 2012

3,500,000 3,110,000 390,000

Mar 2012

3,831,000 3,425,000 406,000

Apr 2012

3,643,000 3,266,000 377,000

May 2012

3,694,000 3,325,000 369,000

Jun 2012

3,799,000 3,419,000 380,000

Jul 2012

3,694,000 3,326,000 368,000

Aug 2012

3,683,000 3,277,000 406,000

Sep 2012

3,521,000 3,156,000 366,000

Oct 2012

3,708,000 3,329,000 378,000

Nov 2012

3,521,000 3,178,000 343,000

Dec 2012

3,570,000 3,196,000 374,000

Jan 2013

3,790,000 3,390,000 400,000

Feb 2013

3,974,000 3,547,000 427,000

Mar 2013

3,872,000 3,479,000 393,000

Apr 2013

3,951,000 3,515,000 437,000

May 2013

3,873,000 3,453,000 421,000

Jun 2013

3,924,000 3,536,000 387,000

Jul 2013

3,896,000 3,519,000 377,000

Aug 2013

3,968,000 3,587,000 380,000

Sep 2013

3,959,000 3,582,000 378,000

Oct 2013

4,105,000 3,707,000 398,000

Nov 2013

3,837,000 3,476,000 361,000

Dec 2013

3,742,000 3,413,000 329,000

Jan 2014

3,980,000 3,612,000 368,000

Feb 2014

4,101,000 3,697,000 403,000

Mar 2014

4,167,000 3,716,000 451,000

Apr 2014

4,569,000 4,121,000 448,000

May 2014

4,594,000 4,138,000 457,000

Jun 2014

4,680,000 4,170,000 510,000

Jul 2014

4,648,000 4,188,000 459,000

Aug 2014

5,026,000 4,567,000 459,000

Sep 2014

4,625,000 4,154,000 470,000

Oct 2014

4,906,000 4,487,000 419,000

Nov 2014

4,684,000 4,241,000 442,000

Dec 2014

4,795,000 4,336,000 459,000

Jan 2015

5,104,000 4,592,000 512,000

Feb 2015

5,124,000 4,585,000 539,000

Mar 2015

5,125,000 4,597,000 528,000

Apr 2015

5,632,000 5,124,000 508,000

May 2015

5,421,000 4,878,000 543,000

Jun 2015

5,189,000 4,731,000 457,000

Jul 2015

5,891,000 5,372,000 519,000

Aug 2015

5,445,000 4,950,000 494,000

Sep 2015

5,414,000 4,947,000 467,000

Oct 2015

5,484,000 5,006,000 478,000

Nov 2015

5,221,000 4,757,000 464,000

Dec 2015

5,374,000 4,874,000 500,000

Jan 2016

5,713,000 5,214,000 499,000

Feb 2016

5,566,000 5,092,000 474,000

Mar 2016

5,852,000 5,338,000 514,000

Apr 2016

5,643,000 5,119,000 524,000

May 2016

5,582,000 5,044,000 538,000

Jun 2016

5,535,000 4,991,000 544,000

Jul 2016

5,973,000 5,416,000 556,000

Aug 2016

5,491,000 4,981,000 511,000

Sep 2016

5,666,000 5,133,000 533,000

Oct 2016

5,587,000 5,103,000 484,000

Nov 2016

5,631,000 5,056,000 575,000

Dec 2016

5,539,000 5,065,000 474,000

Jan 2017

5,625,000 5,133,000 492,000

Feb 2017

5,682,000 5,179,000 503,000

Mar 2017

5,785,000 5,244,000 541,000

Apr 2017

5,967,000 5,410,000 557,000

May 2017

5,702,000 5,171,000 531,000

Jun 2017

6,116,000 5,545,000 571,000

Jul 2017

6,140,000 5,625,000 515,000

Aug 2017

6,090,000 5,584,000 506,000

Sep 2017

6,177,000 5,650,000 527,000

Oct 2017(p)

5,996,000 5,462,000 535,000
Footnotes:

(p) Preliminary.

Job openings have been at or near record-high levels since June. The job openings rate was 3.9 percent in October. The number of job openings edged down for total private and was little changed for government.

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 2017” (HTML) (PDF). Also see charts featuring data on job openings, hires, and separations.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Job openings little changed at 6.0 million in October 2017 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/job-openings-unchanged-at-6-point-0-million-in-october-2017.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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