United States JOLTS Job Openings

JOLTS Job Openings is a monthly report on job vacancies in the US commercial, industrial and office areas. The calculation includes all vacancies that remain open as of the last business day of a month.

The indicator is included in the US JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) report based on employers' survey. In the questionnaire, employers characterize employment in their companies, the number of open vacancies, hiring and firing. These data are processed and included in the report, which is published monthly, including separate data on different regions and industries.

The survey sample includes about 16,000 US companies from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They represent most sectors of the American economy, such as retailing, industry, construction, mining, transportation, IT, financial services, education, medicine, etc.

JOLTS data is a measure of the deficit or excess supply of labor at the national level. Before the appearance of this report, there were no indicators of unmet demand for labor in the US.

Economists utilize the report to analyze the national labor market and to characterize business cycles. An increase in vacancies positively characterizes the economy on the one hand, but if unemployment continues to grow, it is an indication of imbalance in the labor market and lack of qualified personnel. Long-term observation of the ratio between open vacancies and their fulfillment is used for adjusting education and training programs at the government level.

In general, an increase in the number of vacancies can be seen as positive for the US dollar.