October 8, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Job openings rate in August 2008

Continuing the downward trend that began in September 2007, the job openings rate declined to 2.3 percent in August, the lowest level since April 2004.

Job openings rate, seasonally adjusted, January 2004-August 2008
[Chart data—TXT]

The decrease in the job openings rate in recent months is due to declines in construction, wholesale trade, professional and business services, and accommodation and food services.

These data are from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. To learn more, see "Job Openings and Labor Turnover: August 2008," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-1423. These data are seasonally adjusted; data for the most recent month are preliminary. Job openings include only those jobs open on the last business day of the month.

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The very first issue of The Editor's Desk (TED) was posted on September 28, 1998. TED was the first online-only publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For 10 years, BLS has been committed to posting a new TED article each business day, for a total of over 2,400 articles so far.

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