by Oriane Casale
October 2024
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) Survey conducted by the BLS shows that the number of job openings rose to 186,000, up 33.8% over the month in August on a seasonally adjusted basis in Minnesota. Compared to one year ago, job openings were down by 7,000 or 3.6%. This compares to an over-the-year decline of 16.0% at the national level.
Hires fell 9.3% over the year in August in Minnesota and 7.7% nationally. Total separations were flat over the year in Minnesota and fell 7.9% nationally.
Minnesota's job openings rate rose to 5.8% in August, the highest it's been this year. Nationally, the rate is 4.7% (see figure below). The job openings rate is the number of job openings as a percent of total employment plus job openings.
In Minnesota there were 0.6 unemployed workers for each job vacancy in August – or six unemployed works for every 10 job openings. This ratio is well down from last month and in line with where it has been for most of this year, indicating that Minnesota continues to have a tight labor market where there are fewer than one unemployed worker for every job opening. Nationwide the ratio was 0.9, unchanged from the previous month.
