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Unemployed Job Seekers per Opening (JOLTS data)

Northeast Region* and United States
March 2012 - March 2013

Image of a graph showing the Northeast region and united states unemployment job seekers per opening per month.
Data Highlights: March 2013 (Seasonally Adjusted)

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), in March 2013 there were 676,000 job openings in the Northeast region, which includes New York State. This was down 3.4% from February 2013's level of 700,000. (Note: JOLTS data are available nationally and regionally, but not at the state level.)  At the same time, the number of unemployed in the Northeast region decreased by 2.9%, from 2.31 million in February 2013 to 2.24 million in March 2013.

The ratio of unemployed job seekers to job openings is a useful labor market indicator. It is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed workers by the number of job openings. In March 2013, there were 3.3 job seekers per job opening in the Northeast region, unchanged from February 2013's level. The region's ratio also stood at 3.3 in March 2012.

Nationally, the number of unemployed decreased by 2.4% and the number of job openings decreased by 1.4% between February 2013 and March 2013. As a result, the ratio in the U.S. was unchanged (3.1) over this period. In March 2012, the U.S. ratio was 3.3.

At the beginning of the last national recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed job seekers per job opening stood at 1.9 in the Northeast and 1.8 in the nation. By June 2009 -- the official end of the U.S. recession -- the ratio was 4.2 in the Northeast region and 6.2 in the nation as a whole.

Historical Unemployed Job Seekers per Opening data, Northeast region and U.S.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program produces data on job openings, hires, and separations:http://www.bls.gov/jlt/

Unemployment data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program:http://www.bls.gov/bls/unemployment.htm

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