Job Openings Roughly Match the # of Unemployed People
- What This Chart Shows: Job openings measure the positions employers are trying to fill. Unemployed people are those in the labor force who are without a job and actively looking for one. Shaded bars mark past recessions.
- Where Things Stand: As of July, 2026, there were 7,271k job openings and 6,916k unemployed people in the United States.
- Why It Matters: For most of this chart’s history, unemployed people outnumbered job openings, and after 2008 by more than two to one. Since 2021 the two series have moved into much closer balance.
