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Hires-per-job-opening ratio 0.3 in federal government; 2.0 in arts, entertainment, and recreation
October 30, 2018
The federal government had the lowest hires-per-job-opening ratio (0.30) in August 2018, followed by finance and insurance (0.41), state and local government, excluding education (0.41), information (0.49), and health care and social assistance (0.53). These industries had fewer hires than job openings, implying difficulty hiring workers, a longer hiring process, or some other timing issue for job postings.
Hires-per-job-opening ratio, by industry, August 2018, seasonally adjusted
Industry
Hires-per-job-opening ratio
Hires
Job openings
Federal government
0.30
33,000
111,000
Finance and insurance
0.41
148,000
363,000
State and local government, excluding education
0.41
139,000
339,000
Information
0.49
73,000
149,000
Health care and social assistance
0.53
604,000
1,143,000
Wholesale trade
0.68
163,000
238,000
Educational services
0.69
89,000
129,000
Durable goods manufacturing
0.72
207,000
286,000
State and local government education
0.81
162,000
200,000
Total nonfarm
0.81
5,784,000
7,136,000
Nondurable goods manufacturing
0.82
165,000
202,000
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities
0.86
236,000
273,000
Professional and business services
0.89
1,177,000
1,318,000
Real estate and rental and leasing
0.93
80,000
86,000
Accommodation and food services
0.99
888,000
898,000
Other services
1.06
815,000
768,000
Retail trade
1.06
233,000
219,000
Construction
1.20
358,000
298,000
Mining and logging
1.32
41,000
31,000
Arts, entertainment, and recreation
2.01
173,000
86,000
Note: These data are preliminary.
The industries with the highest ratios were arts, entertainment, and recreation (2.01), mining and logging (1.32), and construction (1.20). High hires-per-job-opening ratios mean that appropriate workers were available and employers were able to hire them during the month.
The hires-per-job-opening ratio for all nonfarm industries was 0.81 in August 2018. The hires-per-job-opening ratios for state and local government education and nondurable goods manufacturing were not much different from the all industry ratio.
Hires and job openings 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 "Which industries are filling job openings and which industries are not? Exploring the JOLTS hires-per-job-opening ratio" in Beyond the Numbers, October 2018. The hires-per-job-opening ratio divides the number of hires that occurred during a month by the number of jobs that remained open at the end of the month. A ratio greater than 1.0 indicates that businesses hired more employees during the month than they had jobs remaining open at the end of the month. A ratio less than 1.0 indicates fewer hires during the month than there were open jobs at the end of the month.
United States Department of Labor
