Abstract
Kelly A. Clark and Mary Anne Phillips (2002)
"A Comparison of Job Openings Surveys: Concepts and Survey Design."
In the past, labor market analysis has been incomplete. The United States and other countries have strong and much publicized economic indicators of excess labor supply in the form of the unemployment rate. When combined with other economic indicators, the unemployment rate serves as a reasonable measure of labor market activity, general economic conditions, and labor supply. However, a parallel measure of unmet labor demand is required to allow a thorough analysis of the labor market and to show how changes in labor supply and demand affect the overall economy. While several other countries currently conduct infrequent or informal job vacancy surveys to measure labor demand, there are new efforts in the United States and Europe to collect comprehensive and statistically sound job vacancy data. While a small number of European countries have conducted job vacancy surveys for a decade or more, the United States has never had a consistent vacancy series. In 1998, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began developing this long-needed economic indicator to assess the unmet demand for labor in the U.S. labor market in the form of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Estimates from the JOLTS program were first released in July 2002.
Last Modified Date: July 19, 2008
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