In August 2026, US employers had 7.1 million job openings (a 4.3% openings rate) but made 5.2 million hires (a 3.3% hires rate). The gap between openings and hires varies sharply by industry: health care, finance and insurance, and information show many openings but few hires, while construction and accommodation and food services hire at or above their openings rate. For advertisers, that gap is a signal about where candidate supply is tight and where ad spend works hardest.
What Do the Openings Rate and Hires Rate Measure?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes both measures in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The openings rate is job openings as a share of employment plus openings. The hires rate is total hires as a share of employment. Because the two rates use different denominators, comparing them is an approximate indicator of how readily openings convert to hires, not an exact like-for-like measure.
For recruiting teams, the comparison is still useful. An industry with a high openings rate and a low hires rate is posting many roles that are not converting quickly into hires.
How Do Openings, Hires, and Quits Compare by Industry?
The table below uses preliminary, seasonally adjusted August 2026 data from the BLS JOLTS release of September 29, 2026. The last column is a Joveo calculation (hires rate divided by openings rate), shown to illustrate relative conversion and not a BLS statistic.
| Industry | Openings rate | Hires rate | Quits rate | Hires ÷ openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total nonfarm | 4.3% | 3.3% | 1.9% | 0.77 |
| Health care and social assistance | 5.4% | 2.9% | 2.0% | 0.54 |
| Retail trade | 4.7% | 4.3% | 3.0% | 0.91 |
| Accommodation and food services | 4.7% | 5.2% | 3.5% | 1.11 |
| Manufacturing | 4.0% | 2.6% | 1.6% | 0.65 |
| Professional and business services | 5.0% | 4.2% | 2.1% | 0.84 |
| Construction | 2.9% | 3.7% | 1.8% | 1.28 |
| Transportation, warehousing, and utilities | 4.5% | 3.4% | 1.9% | 0.76 |
| Finance and insurance | 5.0% | 1.7% | 1.0% | 0.34 |
| Information | 4.3% | 1.6% | 1.1% | 0.37 |
BLS noted that openings, hires, and layoffs “changed little in all industries” in August, so these figures describe a steady picture and not a sudden shift.
Which Industries Have the Biggest Gap Between Openings and Hires?
Health care had the highest openings rate of the industries listed (5.4%) but a hires rate of only 2.9%. Finance and insurance (5.0% openings, 1.7% hires) and information (4.3% openings, 1.6% hires) show even wider gaps. Roles in these industries often require licenses, specialized skills, or longer screening, which slows hiring regardless of how many openings are posted.
At the other end, accommodation and food services was the only industry besides construction where the hires rate (5.2%) exceeded the openings rate (4.7%). It also had the highest quits rate (3.5%). High-turnover, high-volume hiring tends to fill roles quickly and reopen them just as quickly.
What Does the Gap Mean for Job Advertising Strategy?
Three practical implications follow, each framed as a hypothesis for your own data and not a rule.
High openings and low hires usually call for targeting, not more volume. When an industry posts many roles but hires slowly, adding impressions rarely closes the gap. Narrower targeting, stronger job content, and distribution to channels where qualified candidates actually search tend to matter more. A programmatic platform such as Joveo can shift spend toward the publishers and audiences that produce qualified applicants instead of clicks (see how programmatic platforms allocate budget).
High-turnover industries need always-on advertising. With quits rates of 3.0% to 3.5% in retail and food service, roles reopen constantly. Evergreen campaigns with steady budgets typically outperform stop-and-start bursts, and the seasonal hiring demand guide covers how to plan around peaks.
Low-quit industries reward passive-candidate reach. In finance and insurance (1.0% quits) and information (1.1% quits), few people are leaving jobs, so advertising to employed candidates is the main route to hires. That context is explored in What Is Job Hugging? and in the job openings per unemployed person ratio.
How Should You Use This Data?
Use industry rates as a benchmark for expectations, not as a forecast for your own roles. Compare your own cost per applicant and time to fill against your industry’s conversion pattern, then check them against recruitment advertising benchmarks. Note that BLS revises JOLTS data, with annual updates in the January release, so treat the preliminary August figures as provisional.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the JOLTS hires rate?
The hires rate is total hires during the month as a percentage of total employment, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What was the national hires rate in August 2026?
The preliminary rate was 3.3%, or 5.2 million hires, against 7.1 million job openings (4.3%).
Which industry had the highest quits rate in August 2026?
Accommodation and food services, at 3.5%.
Why do openings not always convert into hires?
Openings can be unfilled because of skill or licensing requirements, long screening, location mismatches, or roles that are posted but not actively recruited. Openings and hires also use different denominators, so the comparison is approximate.
Does a low hires rate mean a weak industry?
Not necessarily. Low rates can reflect stable, low-turnover workforces as much as weak demand.
