Recovery of the domestic labor force continues as the number of unemployed persons per job opening in the United States fell to 1.95 in September while individuals continued to be recalled to work. Given the fact that 906,000 private sector workers were recalled in October with permanent job losses largely unchanged at 4.5 million, it is important to note that due to the unusual nature of the pandemic, large shock, and policy put into place that will expire at the end of the year, these data are dynamic and prone to change; therefore one should not assume a steady decline.
This estimate, which is made by culling data from the monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly survey and the Jobs, Openings, Layoffs and Turnover survey, is a lagging indicator of the condition of the domestic labor market and provides insight into its extreme churn. The decline to roughly two workers per job opening is down from the pandemic high established in April of 4.6 and is well below the series high of 6.5 recorded during the height of the Great Recession.
