National Labor Market Trends

JOLTS data over time - latest: May 2026. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national job-openings rate has cooled from a 2022 peak above 7% to 4.6% as of the latest data, with the quits rate at 1.9% across 28 industries and 51 states.

7.6M

Job Openings

↑ 3.9% YoY

5.2M

Hires

↓ 3.0% YoY

3.1M

Quits

1.7M

Layoffs

Job openings & hires over time

Source: BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), national total, in millions As of May 2026

Quits vs. layoffs over time

When quits run well above layoffs, workers feel confident enough to leave voluntarily; when layoffs rise toward quits, demand is softening.

Source: BLS JOLTS, national voluntary quits vs. layoffs and discharges, in millions As of May 2026

Job openings, the headline gauge

Source: BLS JOLTS, national job openings (all industries), in millions As of May 2026

Monthly Data

Month	Openings	Hires	Quits	Layoffs	Separations
May 2026	7.6M	5.2M	3.1M	1.7M	5.1M
Apr 2026	7.6M	5.2M	3.0M	1.7M	5.0M
Mar 2026	6.9M	5.5M	3.2M	1.9M	5.4M
Feb 2026	6.9M	4.9M	3.0M	1.7M	5.0M
Jan 2026	7.2M	5.3M	3.1M	1.7M	5.1M
Dec 2025	6.5M	5.3M	3.2M	1.7M	5.2M
Nov 2025	6.8M	5.0M	3.1M	1.7M	5.0M
Oct 2025	7.2M	5.2M	3.0M	1.9M	5.1M
Sep 2025	7.2M	5.2M	3.0M	1.8M	5.2M
Aug 2025	6.9M	5.1M	3.1M	1.8M	5.2M
Jul 2025	7.1M	5.2M	3.1M	1.8M	5.2M
Jun 2025	7.2M	5.3M	3.3M	1.8M	5.4M
May 2025	7.3M	5.3M	3.3M	1.7M	5.3M
Apr 2025	7.1M	5.4M	3.1M	1.8M	5.3M
Mar 2025	7.0M	5.3M	3.5M	1.6M	5.3M
Feb 2025	7.2M	5.2M	3.2M	1.9M	5.3M
Jan 2025	7.4M	5.2M	3.2M	1.7M	5.2M
Dec 2024	7.3M	5.3M	3.1M	1.7M	5.0M
Nov 2024	7.6M	5.2M	3.0M	1.8M	5.2M
Oct 2024	7.4M	5.2M	3.2M	1.6M	5.1M
Sep 2024	6.9M	5.4M	3.1M	1.8M	5.2M
Aug 2024	7.5M	5.2M	3.2M	1.7M	5.2M
Jul 2024	7.4M	5.4M	3.4M	1.7M	5.4M
Jun 2024	7.4M	5.1M	3.3M	1.5M	5.1M
May 2024	7.8M	5.5M	3.4M	1.7M	5.4M
Apr 2024	7.5M	5.5M	3.4M	1.5M	5.4M
Mar 2024	8.2M	5.5M	3.3M	1.6M	5.3M
Feb 2024	8.4M	5.6M	3.5M	1.7M	5.5M
Jan 2024	8.4M	5.6M	3.3M	1.6M	5.4M
Dec 2023	8.5M	5.6M	3.4M	1.7M	5.4M
Nov 2023	8.6M	5.5M	3.6M	1.6M	5.5M
Oct 2023	8.6M	5.8M	3.6M	1.6M	5.5M
Sep 2023	9.3M	5.8M	3.6M	1.5M	5.5M
Aug 2023	9.3M	5.8M	3.6M	1.7M	5.7M
Jul 2023	8.7M	5.7M	3.6M	1.7M	5.6M
Jun 2023	9.2M	5.9M	3.7M	1.7M	5.7M
May 2023	9.4M	6.1M	4.0M	1.5M	5.8M
Apr 2023	10.0M	5.9M	3.6M	1.7M	5.6M
Mar 2023	9.7M	5.9M	3.8M	1.9M	6.0M
Feb 2023	9.9M	6.0M	3.9M	1.5M	5.8M
Jan 2023	10.3M	6.4M	3.8M	1.8M	5.9M
Dec 2022	10.9M	6.2M	4.1M	1.5M	6.0M
Nov 2022	10.6M	6.2M	4.1M	1.5M	5.9M
Oct 2022	10.4M	6.2M	4.0M	1.6M	5.8M
Sep 2022	10.8M	6.2M	4.1M	1.4M	5.9M
Aug 2022	10.1M	6.4M	4.3M	1.6M	6.2M
Jul 2022	11.6M	6.5M	4.0M	1.5M	5.8M
Jun 2022	11.3M	6.5M	4.2M	1.5M	6.0M
May 2022	11.5M	6.4M	4.2M	1.5M	6.1M
Apr 2022	11.9M	6.5M	4.5M	1.3M	6.1M
Mar 2022	12.3M	6.6M	4.4M	1.4M	6.2M
Feb 2022	11.7M	6.8M	4.2M	1.4M	6.0M
Jan 2022	11.2M	6.4M	4.4M	1.4M	6.2M
Dec 2021	11.5M	6.7M	4.3M	1.4M	6.1M
Nov 2021	11.2M	6.9M	4.5M	1.3M	6.2M
Oct 2021	11.2M	6.7M	4.2M	1.3M	5.9M
Sep 2021	10.8M	6.6M	4.4M	1.4M	6.1M
Aug 2021	10.9M	6.4M	4.2M	1.3M	5.9M
Jul 2021	11.0M	6.7M	4.1M	1.4M	5.8M
Jun 2021	10.3M	6.5M	4.0M	1.3M	5.7M
May 2021	10.0M	6.0M	3.8M	1.4M	5.5M
Apr 2021	9.3M	6.1M	3.9M	1.4M	5.7M
Mar 2021	8.5M	6.2M	3.7M	1.5M	5.5M
Feb 2021	7.8M	5.8M	3.4M	1.6M	5.3M
Jan 2021	7.2M	5.6M	3.3M	1.6M	5.1M
Dec 2020	6.8M	5.6M	3.4M	1.9M	5.6M
Nov 2020	6.8M	5.9M	3.2M	2.1M	5.6M
Oct 2020	6.8M	6.1M	3.3M	1.7M	5.4M
Sep 2020	6.5M	6.0M	3.2M	1.6M	5.1M
Aug 2020	6.4M	6.0M	2.9M	1.6M	4.8M
Jul 2020	6.5M	6.3M	3.0M	1.8M	5.2M
Jun 2020	6.1M	7.5M	2.6M	2.2M	5.2M
May 2020	5.6M	8.1M	2.3M	2.1M	4.7M
Apr 2020	4.6M	4.0M	2.0M	9.2M	11.5M
Mar 2020	5.9M	5.2M	2.9M	13.0M	16.3M
Feb 2020	7.0M	6.0M	3.5M	2.0M	5.8M
Jan 2020	7.1M	6.0M	3.6M	1.8M	5.7M
Dec 2019	6.7M	6.0M	3.5M	1.9M	5.8M
Nov 2019	6.9M	5.8M	3.5M	1.8M	5.7M
Oct 2019	7.3M	5.8M	3.5M	1.8M	5.6M
Sep 2019	7.1M	6.0M	3.4M	2.0M	5.8M
Aug 2019	7.2M	5.9M	3.5M	1.8M	5.7M
Jul 2019	7.0M	5.9M	3.7M	1.8M	5.8M
Jun 2019	7.2M	5.8M	3.5M	1.8M	5.6M
May 2019	7.3M	5.7M	3.5M	1.8M	5.6M
Apr 2019	7.3M	6.0M	3.5M	2.0M	5.8M
Mar 2019	7.3M	5.7M	3.5M	1.7M	5.5M
Feb 2019	7.1M	5.7M	3.5M	1.8M	5.7M
Jan 2019	7.5M	5.8M	3.5M	1.7M	5.5M

About This Data

National JOLTS data shows total U.S. job openings, hires, and separations across all nonfarm industries. Data is published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics with approximately a two-month lag. These figures are seasonally adjusted and represent thousands of positions.

Compiled by PlainLabor Editorial, Labor Statistics Editorial Team