Chart: Job openings rate by month since January 2001

The job openings rate (seasonally adjusted) was little changed in December, at 1.9 percent. The rate has been 1.8 percent or 1.9 percent since March 2009. This is according to data released February 18 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[Chart data]

In December, the job openings rate increased in State and local government and decreased in the Midwest.

Over the 12 months ending in December, the job openings rate (not seasonally adjusted) decreased for total nonfarm and total private and was unchanged in government. The job openings rate also decreased over that period in educational services and in health care and social assistance, as well as in the South and Midwest regions.

This data is from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. To learn more, see "Job Openings and Labor Turnover: December 2009" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-0169.