Overview
New York State and United States
May 2023 - May 2024
Data Highlights: May 2024 (seasonally adjusted)
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), in May 2024 there were 477,000 job openings in New York State. This was up from April’s revised level of 432,000. At the same time, the number of unemployed in New York State decreased from 410,500 in April to 409,900 in May 2024.
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 May 2024, there were 0.9 job seekers per job opening in New York State, down from 1.0 in April. The state’s ratio stood at 0.9 in May 2023.
Nationally, the number of job openings increased by 2.8% and the number of unemployed increased by 2.4% between April and May 2024. As a result, the ratio of unemployed job seekers to job openings in the U.S. held constant at 0.8 during this period. In May 2023, the U.S. ratio was 0.7.
At the beginning of the last national recession in February 2020, the number of unemployed job seekers per job opening stood at 1.0 in New York State and at 0.8 in the nation.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program produces data on job openings, hires and separations: https://www.bls.gov/jlt/
Unemployment data come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program: https://www.bls.gov/bls/unemployment.htm