The Bureau of Labor Statistics' July Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed relatively little movement in the labor market. Job openings totaled 7.3 million, up approximately 89,000 from a downwardly revised 7.2 million in June. The job openings rate remained at 4.4%.
The July results continue a pattern that has emerged over the past year. Job openings remain well below the levels recorded during the labor shortage of 2021 and 2022, while hiring and voluntary turnover have also moderated.
The quit rate was 1.9% in July, unchanged from June, representing approximately 3.1 million workers who voluntarily left their jobs. That compares with a 3.0% quits rate during the peak of the Great Resignation in 2022. The layoffs and discharges rate was 1.0%, down slightly from June.
The combination of lower quits and relatively low layoffs points to a labor market with less worker movement than in the years immediately following the pandemic. Workers are changing jobs less frequently, while employers are also making relatively few workforce reductions.
Hiring was somewhat weaker. The hires rate fell to 3.2%, with approximately 5.1 million hires during the month. Hiring in professional and business services declined by 188,000 from June, the largest monthly decline among industries.
Industry data also shows that the labor market is not moving uniformly. Retail trade had the largest year-over-year increase in job openings, up 155,000, followed by manufacturing, which increased by 152,000. Leisure and hospitality had the largest year-over-year decline, down 187,000 openings.
These differences are important because the overall job openings number can obscure conditions within individual industries and occupations. Manufacturing, for example, continues to show relatively strong demand for workers, while some service industries are experiencing fewer openings.
The contrast with 2022 remains significant. Job openings reached a record 12.3 million in March 2022, with an openings rate of 7.1% and approximately two job openings for every unemployed worker. The July 2026 ratio was approximately 1.1 openings per unemployed worker.
The current labor market is characterized by considerably less hiring and turnover than during the post-pandemic labor shortage. Job openings have not disappeared, but the balance between available workers and available jobs has changed significantly.
For employers, the July JOLTS data points to a labor market that is relatively stable but less active. Recruiting conditions remain highly dependent on industry and occupation, with continued competition for workers in areas such as manufacturing and skilled occupations, while hiring conditions are less constrained in other segments of the labor market.
The July data does not point to a major shift in either direction. Instead, it continues the recent pattern of lower hiring, lower voluntary turnover and fewer job openings than during the labor shortage of 2021 and 2022. The labor market appears to have moved toward a more balanced environment, although conditions continue to vary considerably by industry and occupation.
Sources: bls.gov; hiringlab.indeed.com