How many job openings are there in the US?
Updated May. 11, 2026Refreshed monthly
About 6.87 million, as of March 2026. The number of job openings decreased by 86,000 from March 2025. A “job opening” is defined as a position open on the last business day of the month. To be considered “open,” a job must meet three conditions: (1) There’s work available for the position; (2) The job could start within 30 days; and (3) The employer is actively recruiting.
6.87M
job openings (March 2026)
86K
fewer unfilled jobs in March 2026 than in March 2025
The number of job openings is one measure of employer demand for workers and is a commonly referred-to economic indicator. An increase in the number of job openings often indicates the economy is growing, while a decline may indicate slowed growth.
The number of job openings declined over the last year.
Monthly job openings (seasonally adjusted), December 2000–March 2026
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Monthly job openings trended upwards from a low of 2.2 million in July 2009, the end of the Great Recession, through a peak of 7.6 million in November 2018. In February 2020, one month before the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 7.0 million job openings, which fell to 4.6 million in April. Job openings bounced back, hitting a record high of 12.1 million in March 2022 before again trending downwards. As of March 2026, job openings are down 1.2% from the year prior.
What is the job openings rate?
The job openings rate is another way to consider this data. It tells us what percentage of all jobs, filled and unfilled, were open during a given time period. This allows for better comparisons across time, industries, and places by adjusting for differences in the size of the working population.
In March 2026, 4.1% of all jobs were unfilled, a decrease of 0.16 percentage points from the average across the previous 12 months.
What industry has the highest job openings rate?
In March 2026, the job openings rate was highest in the leisure and hospitality industry.
March 2026 (seasonally adjusted) job openings rate and March 2025–Feb. 2026 average job openings rate, by industry
The job openings rate varies across industries, which experience different economic pressures. In March 2026, the rate was highest in the leisure and hospitality (5.4%), financial activities (5.1%), and private education and health services (5%) industries. It was lowest in wholesale trade (2.3%). Compared to the previous 12-month average, the job openings rate fell most in the information industry (-1.1 percentage points), and increased most in the financial activities industry (+1.2 percentage points).
What states have the highest and lowest job openings rate?
Job openings rates also differ across states for a host of reasons, including the strength of the regional economy and the dominating industries. In December 2025, the rate ranged from a low of 3.1% in Hawaii to West Virginia's high of 5.8%.
Job openings data for states were released monthly through February 2026. At that time, BLS released December 2025 data and stated that state-level data would shift to annual release, to be published in July of each year.
The December 2025 job openings rate was highest in West Virginia.
Seasonally adjusted job openings rate by state, December 2025
Layoffs
In February 2026, the layoff rate was highest in the information industry.
Job openings rate, by state (December 2025)
| 1. | West Virginia | 5.8% |
| 2. | Oklahoma | 5.3% |
| 3. | Georgia | 5.2% |
| 4. | Idaho | 5% |
| 5. | Mississippi | 4.8% |
| 6. | Virginia | 4.7% |
| 7. | Minnesota | 4.7% |
| 8. | Ohio | 4.6% |
| 9. | South Carolina | 4.5% |
| 10. | Alaska | 4.5% |
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
