Job Openings per Unemployed

JOLTS job openings divided by total unemployed persons. Above 1.0 means more vacancies than job-seekers — a structurally tight labor market generating wage pressure. The ratio peaked at ~2.0× in early 2022, the tightest on record, before declining toward 1.0× by 2024. Below 0.8× historically signals a soft labor market with limited upward wage pressure and room for the Fed to cut rates.

This indicator is computed by MacroLab from two FRED series: JTSJOL divided by UNEMPLOY. Both input series are sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) database.