Employers reported roughly 7.3 million open jobs in July, while hiring and departures were both about 5.1 million.
Why it matters
A vacancy is one step in the hiring process. Comparing openings with actual hires helps explain why a large advertised job count may coexist with a difficult search.
In everyday life
A large number of vacancies does not guarantee a fast offer: location, skills and timing can differ. Hiring rates give useful context alongside advertised openings.
What remains uncertain
BLS describes the monthly change as little changed. Avoid turning the small numerical rise in openings into a confident hiring-boom claim.
Choose “Go deeper” for the full explanation, definitions, and differences across households.
Sources & dates
Job Openings and Labor Turnover — July 2026
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Event
- Official release on Sep 1, 2026. A statistical release describing an earlier observation period.
- Observation period
- July 2026; openings on the last business day, hires and separations over the month
- Geography
- United States
- Methodology
- Seasonally adjusted nonfarm data. Latest month preliminary.
- Publication
- Meaningful update
June openings revised down by 177,000 to approximately 7.2 million; the table gives 7.182 million.
A source check is not a new economic release. These are the figures available in the linked release vintage. Later releases may revise them.
Revision history (2)
Sep 10, 2026 — Initial publication.
Sep 10, 2026 — metadata-correction: Publication date corrected: the preparation date was initially displayed. Public launch was September 10 UTC (September 9 in the U.S. Eastern time zone). The sourced figures and explanation are unchanged.