Labor Market · Demand

Job Openings Rate Benchmarks

Data vintage: May 2026, SA (preliminary)·Retrieved 2026-07-26·Sources verified
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Job Openings Rate Calculator

Job openings rate = openings / (employment + openings), the BLS JOLTS definition. Compares against verified JOLTS industry segments. Openings ≠ vacancies ≠ advertised offers — see F4.

Job Openings Rate Calculator
Benchmark Table
Job Openings Rate by Industry

Seasonally adjusted, from the BLS JOLTS series database. Industry codes taken from the official BLS series mapping. Preliminary values are revised at subsequent releases.

IndustryValueVintage
Total nonfarm, US4.6%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, US4.8%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Mining and logging, US4.5%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Construction, US3.5%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Manufacturing, US4%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Durable goods manufacturing, US4.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Nondurable goods manufacturing, US3.5%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Trade, transportation, and utilities, US4.1%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Wholesale trade, US4%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Retail trade, US4.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities, US4%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Information, US2.6%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Financial activities, US4%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Finance and insurance, US3.8%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Real estate and rental and leasing, US4.4%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Professional and business services, US6.2%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Private education and health services, US5.2%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Private educational services, US2.8%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Health care and social assistance, US5.6%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Leisure and hospitality, US5.2%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Arts, entertainment, and recreation, US5.8%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Accommodation and food services, US5.1%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Other services, US4.6%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Government, US3.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Federal, US3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
State and local, US3.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)

Denominator: job openings / (employment + job openings) x 100 (BLS JOLTS definition)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS series database
Contrast Table
Hires Rate by Industry

Shown as contrast: a high openings rate with a low hires rate signals unfilled demand. Same source, same vintage — but a different metric with a different denominator.

IndustryValueVintage
Total nonfarm, US3.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, US3.5%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Mining and logging, US3.6%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Construction, US3.5%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Manufacturing, US2.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Durable goods manufacturing, US2.2%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Nondurable goods manufacturing, US2.4%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Trade, transportation, and utilities, US3.7%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Wholesale trade, US2%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Retail trade, US4.1%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities, US4.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Information, US2.9%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Financial activities, US1.9%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Finance and insurance, US1.8%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Real estate and rental and leasing, US2.1%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Professional and business services, US4.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Private education and health services, US2.6%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Private educational services, US2.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Health care and social assistance, US2.7%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Leisure and hospitality, US5.8%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Arts, entertainment, and recreation, US5.6%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Accommodation and food services, US5.8%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Other services, US3.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Government, US1.5%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Federal, US1.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
State and local, US1.6%May 2026, SA (preliminary)

Denominator: hires / employment x 100 (BLS JOLTS definition)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS series database
Size Section · Total Private Only
Total Private, by Establishment Size

Establishment-size breakdown exists ONLY for Total Private in JOLTS — it is never published crossed with industry, and no industry+size combination is shown here. See /methodology.

Job Openings Rate
Establishment size (total private)ValueVintage
Total private, 1 to 9 employees5.2%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 10 to 49 employees4.7%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 50 to 249 employees4.3%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 250 to 999 employees4.7%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 1,000 to 4,999 employees5.8%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 5,000 or more employees5.2%May 2026, SA (preliminary)

Denominator: job openings / (employment + job openings) x 100 (BLS JOLTS definition)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS series database
Hires Rate
Establishment size (total private)ValueVintage
Total private, 1 to 9 employees2.8%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 10 to 49 employees4%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 50 to 249 employees3.7%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 250 to 999 employees3.6%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 1,000 to 4,999 employees3.1%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 5,000 or more employees2.1%May 2026, SA (preliminary)

Denominator: hires / employment x 100 (BLS JOLTS definition)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS series database
Quits Rate
Establishment size (total private)ValueVintage
Total private, 1 to 9 employees1.4%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 10 to 49 employees2.4%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 50 to 249 employees2.5%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 250 to 999 employees2.2%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 1,000 to 4,999 employees1.6%May 2026, SA (preliminary)
Total private, 5,000 or more employees0.9%May 2026, SA (preliminary)

Denominator: quits / employment x 100 (BLS JOLTS definition)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS series database
Definition traps
Read This Before You Compare Numbers

Fixed methodology boxes — see /methodology for the full policy.

F4 — Vacancies, openings, and offers are three different metrics
“Job openings” (a stock, measured at a point in time), “vacancies” (used loosely as a synonym in some national statistics), and “offers extended/accepted” (a recruiting-funnel flow metric) measure different things. Offer Acceptance Rate on this site uses the NACE definition — accepted ÷ (accepted + declined) × 100 — not a vacancy-fill rate.