On the last business day of December 2019, there were 5,892,000 job openings, a decrease of 14.9 percent from 6,921,000 job openings on the last business day of December 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. For private industry, job openings on the last business day of December 2019 were 5,221,000, representing a 17.4-percent decrease from the 6,321,000 job openings on the last business day of December 2018.
From the last business day of December 2018 to that of December 2019, job openings decreased for most industries, including mining and logging (down 51.7 percent), retail trade (down 30.5 percent), transportation, warehousing, and utilities (down 26.7 percent), finance and insurance (down 25.5 percent), and durable goods manufacturing (down 24.8 percent).
In educational services, job openings increased 23.1 percent from 91,000 on the last business day of December 2018 to 112,000 on the last business day of December 2019. Over the same period, job openings increased 14.8 percent for state and local government.
These data are from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and are not seasonally adjusted.