On September 29, 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employers had about 7.1 million job openings at the end of August. The headline said openings were “little changed.” Behind that flat line were construction and manufacturing openings falling, retail and finance openings rising, and a West region that lost 243,000 openings in a month.
That is the kind of detail the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, is built to show. This guide explains what each number means, how to tell a real shift from noise, and how to turn a national report into something you can act on this week.
Key takeaways
- JOLTS measures employer demand (openings) and movement (hires, quits, layoffs), not the number of people working.
- Compare the measures with each other. Openings alone tell you little.
- Look at three to six months of direction, not one release.
- It is a national and industry weather report. It cannot tell you who is hiring in your town.
What JOLTS is, and who runs it
JOLTS is a monthly survey of employers run by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). According to BLS, it draws on a sample of about 21,000 nonfarm business and government establishments, and it produces national estimates plus monthly state estimates for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Compare that with the better-known jobs report. The monthly jobs report tells you how many people have jobs and how many are unemployed. JOLTS asks a different question: how many jobs are waiting to be filled, and how many people started or left jobs? One is a headcount. The other is a flow chart.
The timing differs too. The jobs report arrives within days of the month ending. JOLTS runs about a month behind. The August 2026 figures appeared on September 29, and BLS lists the September figures for November 3, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.
The five measures, in plain English
BLS spells out precise definitions in the technical note of each release. Here is what they mean for a reader.
| Measure | How BLS defines it | What to take from it |
|---|---|---|
| Job openings | Work is available, could start within 30 days, and the employer is recruiting from outside the establishment. Counted on the last business day of the month. | Employer appetite for new people |
| Hires | All additions to payroll during the month, including rehires, recalls after a layoff longer than 7 days, and transfers from other locations | How many positions actually got filled |
| Quits | Voluntary departures started by the employee. Retirements and transfers are not included. | Worker confidence |
| Layoffs and discharges | Departures started by the employer | Employer-driven job loss |
| Other separations | Retirements, transfers, disability separations and deaths | The rest of turnover |
Two details in those definitions matter more than they look. First, internal-only postings and jobs filled through temp agencies or contractors are excluded from openings. Second, openings are a snapshot of one day, while hires and separations cover the whole month. Do not expect them to line up neatly, month by month.
Levels versus rates
Every measure comes as a level (a count, like 7.1 million) and a rate. The rates are worth learning because they let you compare years when the workforce was different sizes.
- Job openings rate: openings divided by the sum of employment and openings, times 100.
- Hires, quits, layoffs and separations rates: the count divided by employment, times 100.
The denominators differ, so the openings rate and the hires rate are not directly comparable to each other. Compare each rate to its own past.
What the latest numbers show
Here are the preliminary August 2026 figures from the September 29 release, seasonally adjusted.
| Measure | Level | Rate | BLS description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job openings | 7.1 million | 4.3% | Little changed |
| Hires | 5.2 million | 3.3% | Little changed |
| Total separations | 5.1 million | 3.2% | Unchanged |
| Quits | 3.1 million | 1.9% | Unchanged |
| Layoffs and discharges | 1.6 million | 1.0% | Essentially unchanged |
Read together, the picture is steady rather than dramatic. Employers still have a lot of openings, hires continue, quits are modest, and layoffs are low. That is a description of conditions, not a forecast.
Notice the BLS wording too. “Little changed” has a precise meaning: the move is within what the survey’s sampling error could produce. When the agency says a number did not change significantly, treat it as flat even if the digits moved.
Where the action was
The August release also broke the data out by industry and region.
- Industries: Openings fell in construction (down 48,000) and manufacturing (down 54,000) and rose in retail trade (up 54,000) and finance and insurance (up 49,000). Hires changed little in every industry.
- Regions: The South had the most openings at about 2.81 million (4.5% rate). The West had about 1.59 million (4.1%), down 243,000 from July. The Northeast had about 1.15 million (3.9%).
These are one-month moves, and a single month can reverse. Still, the regional table is a reminder that a national total of 7.1 million is the sum of very different local pictures.
Where to find the tables
Start at the BLS JOLTS home page, open the latest news release, and scroll to the industry and regional tables. Use the “Highlights” paragraphs first, then the tables for your field.
Reading the measures together
A single JOLTS number is like a single word from a sentence. The meaning comes from combinations. Here is a quick guide to common patterns, with the caution that each is an interpretation, not a fact.
| Pattern | A reasonable reading | What else to check |
|---|---|---|
| Openings up, hires up | Employers are expanding and filling jobs | Whether it holds for three months |
| Openings high, hires flat | Roles may be hard to fill, slow to fill, or posted without urgency | Industry detail, postings in your area |
| Openings falling, layoffs flat | Demand is cooling without much job loss | Hires and quits |
| Quits rising | Workers feel they can find something better | Which industries |
| Quits falling, layoffs rising | A more cautious market | Unemployment rate in the jobs report |
| Layoffs up in one industry only | A sector problem, not a national one | Industry tables |
The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond has described quits as a reflection of worker confidence, noting that the rate typically rises in expansions and falls in recessions. For job seekers, that is useful. When quits are high, employers often have to fill the jobs people leave, which can mean more openings at the entry and mid levels. When quits fall, people tend to hold on, and fewer seats open up.
The openings-per-unemployed-person ratio
Economists often put JOLTS openings next to the number of unemployed people from the jobs report to gauge how tight the market is. More openings than unemployed people suggests employers are competing for workers. Fewer suggests job seekers are competing for jobs.
As a rough illustration, the September 2026 jobs report put the number of unemployed at 7.1 million and the unemployment rate at 4.2%. The most recent JOLTS openings figure, from August, was also about 7.1 million. Those are different months, so treat that as a ballpark: roughly one opening for each unemployed person, give or take.
Before you read much into that, three cautions.
- It is a national average. A nurse in a rural county and a graphic designer in a big city live in different markets.
- Skills may not match. Many unemployed people are looking in fields where few openings exist, while openings cluster elsewhere.
- Openings are not all open to you. Some are filled by internal moves, referrals, or people already working who switch jobs.
The Richmond Fed also writes about the Beveridge curve, which plots openings against unemployment. The curve usually slopes downward, because low unemployment tends to go with more openings. When it shifts outward, firms post more openings for a given unemployment rate, which suggests matching workers to jobs has become harder. You do not need to chart it yourself, but it helps explain why a “high” openings number does not guarantee a quick hire.
Seasonally adjusted or not?
JOLTS publishes both seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted figures. The headline numbers in the news release are seasonally adjusted, which means BLS has smoothed out regular calendar patterns such as holiday retail hiring, summer jobs and school-year turnover. BLS recalculates the seasonal factors each month, which is one reason earlier months get revised.
Use the adjusted series to judge whether the market is strengthening or weakening. Use the unadjusted series when you want to know what a normal month looks like in your industry. If you are planning a seasonal job search, the raw numbers can show when hiring typically peaks, while the adjusted ones show whether this year is stronger or weaker than usual.
Using state and regional data
Since the pandemic era, BLS has published monthly JOLTS estimates for every state and D.C. The Richmond Fed noted in 2021 that the agency had just begun releasing monthly state data, and that state openings rates ranged widely, from 9.1% in West Virginia at one peak to 5.8% in D.C. Those figures are old, but the lesson holds: states move differently, and a national average can hide a lot.
Keep these limits in mind when you look at your state.
- State figures cover total nonfarm employment, not individual industries.
- Smaller states mean smaller samples, so expect more noise.
- Your commute zone may cross state lines, so look at neighboring states too.
- Compare your state’s rate with its own history before comparing it with another state.
Three readers, three ways to use the report
A new graduate. Hires and openings in your target industry matter most. High hires mean employers are bringing people in, and entry-level roles tend to appear when turnover is high. Pair the data with entry-level job search tactics and expect that a “strong” market still involves many applications.
A mid-career worker thinking of switching. Quits are your best clue. If quits are steady or rising in your industry, other people are making moves, and recruiters may be used to talking to candidates who already have jobs. If quits and openings both fall, you may want to negotiate for a better role where you are, or build skills before moving.
Someone who was laid off. Look at layoffs and hires side by side. If layoffs are low and hires are steady, the overall market is absorbing people, even if your own sector is shrinking. Then look at industries where openings are rising and check which of your skills transfer.
How reliable is it?
JOLTS is useful, and it is also one of the noisier government series. Here is what to keep in mind.
It is a sample. BLS says its analysis is generally done at the 90 percent confidence level. That means small month-to-month changes can come from sampling error alone.
Numbers get revised. In the August release, July’s figures were revised upward: openings by 64,000 to 7.3 million, hires by 92,000 to 5.1 million, and quits by 33,000 to 3.1 million. BLS says monthly revisions reflect additional reports from businesses and recalculated seasonal factors, and that annual revisions come with January data and cover five years.
Response is a concern. One analysis from Apollo Academy, written in October 2023, put the JOLTS response rate at around 30 percent. The BLS release itself does not state the response rate, and that figure is dated, so treat it as a caution rather than a current measurement. The practical takeaway is simple: hold the first estimate loosely.
It is tied to other data. BLS benchmarks JOLTS monthly to employment from its Current Employment Statistics program, and it uses a model to estimate activity from new and short-lived establishments the sample cannot capture. That keeps JOLTS consistent with the jobs report, but it also means the series is not fully independent.
Do not over-read one month
A fall of 200,000 openings in one release can disappear in the next. Make decisions from the direction over several months, and from what you see in real postings.
What JOLTS cannot tell you
- Whether a specific posting is real. An opening counted in the survey is not the same as a listing you see online. Our guide to ghost jobs explains why some postings never lead to a hire.
- What is open near you. State data covers total nonfarm employment only, not your occupation or city.
- How good the jobs are. There is nothing on pay, schedules, benefits or stability.
- Who gets hired. It does not break out hires by experience, education or age.
- What happens next. It describes the recent past.
How to use it in a job search
You do not need to read every release. A short routine, repeated monthly, is enough.
- Open the latest release on the BLS JOLTS page and read the highlights.
- Find your industry in the industry table. Note whether openings and hires moved up, down or stayed flat.
- Check the trend. Look back three to six releases, using the data series on the BLS site.
- Compare with the real world. Search postings for your target roles in your area and see whether the pattern matches.
- Adjust your plan. If demand looks soft, widen your search, build a skill, and spend more time on networking. If it looks firm, apply broadly and prepare for salary negotiation.
A worked example
Say you want a retail management job. The August release showed retail openings rising by 54,000. That is a one-month signal, so you check earlier releases and see whether the rise is part of a pattern. Then you search for store manager openings within 30 miles. If the listings are thin, the national number did not help you, and your time is better spent contacting local managers directly. If the listings are plentiful, you can apply more selectively and ask better questions at interviews.
A short note for a hiring contact
Hi Dana, I have been following hiring trends in retail and I see more openings in the sector. I would like to learn what you are seeing on your team. Would you have 15 minutes this week or next for a quick call?
The script is an illustration, not a guarantee of a reply. Use it as a starting point and edit it to sound like you.
Common mistakes when reading JOLTS
- Treating openings as a list of jobs. It is a count, not a job board.
- Confusing the level with the rate. A bigger workforce means bigger counts. Use rates for comparisons over time.
- Ignoring revisions. Last month’s figure may not be the final one.
- Reading a headline without the tables. “Little changed” can hide real moves inside industries.
- Mixing months. The jobs report and JOLTS cover different reference periods. Be clear which month each number belongs to.
- Using it to decide whether to apply. Apply based on postings and fit. Use JOLTS to set your expectations about how long a search might take.
Pair it with other tools
JOLTS is strongest when read with its neighbors. Use the unemployment rate and the jobs report to see joblessness and payroll growth. For long-range planning, turn to BLS employment projections, which look years ahead rather than months back. For local occupations, wages and openings, use CareerOneStop and the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
The bottom line
JOLTS will not find you a job, but it can tell you whether employers are hungry or cautious, and whether workers are moving or staying put. Used with care, it helps you set a realistic search plan.
- Open the next release (scheduled for November 3, 2026) and read the highlights.
- Write down openings, hires and quits for your industry.
- Compare with the last three months.
- Check real postings in your area before changing your plan.
- Take one action that week, such as applying, updating your resume or reaching out to a contact.
This article is general information, not financial or career advice. Labor market figures are preliminary and may be revised.
