Unemployed Job Seekers per Opening
Northeast Region* and United States
March 2011 - March 2012
Data Highlights: March 2012 (Seasonally Adjusted)
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), in March 2012 there were 691,000 job openings in the Northeast region, which includes New York State. This was up 3.0% from February 2012's level of 671,000. (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 was down 0.5% from February 2012's level of 2.26 million.
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 2012, there were 3.3 job seekers per job opening in the Northeast region, down from February 2012's 3.4. The region's ratio stood at 3.5 in March 2011.
Nationally, the number of unemployed increased by 1.0% and the number of job openings increased by 4.8% between February 2012 and March 2012. As a result, the U.S. ratio of unemployed job seekers to job openings dropped from 3.6 to 3.4 over this period. In March 2011, the U.S. ratio was 4.3.
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 region and 1.8 in the nation. By June 2009 -- the official end of the U.S. recession -- the ratio was 4.1 in the Northeast region and 6.2 in the U.S.
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