The big differences between the industries.
By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.
Today we talked about how job vacancies, voluntary layoffs, layoffs and layoffs, and new hires showed that power in the labor market has shifted from workers back to employers.
Now we look at job openings by industry for November, based on data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as part of its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which is based on a large employer survey and not on Internet job postings Posts.
We'll start with construction, because that's the good news, and we'll continue with information, an industry that includes some technology and social media companies where job vacancies have plummeted.
And then we'll look at some of the key industry categories in between. All charts are three-month moving averages (3MMA), which smooth out the monthly highs and lows and show the trends. We also compare November 3MMA job openings to the same period in 2019.
construction (8 million employees in all construction sectors) is looking for you! We talked about the breathtaking boom in factory construction in December. Investments in buildings and infrastructure are increasing. Growth in single-family home construction increased again in the second half of 2023. And the job market for construction workers is tight.
- Vacancies 3MMA: +28,000
- With 434,000 opens, the highest value in the data
- From 2019: +44%
“Information,” A small sector with only 3 million employees includes companies active in web search portals, data processing, data transmission, information services, software publishing, film and sound recording, broadcasting, including via the Internet, and telecommunications.
The three-month moving average has fallen so much in 2023 that in November it was 20% below the same period in 2019!
- Vacancies 3MMA: -23,000
- On 127,000 openings.
- From 2019: -18%
Professional and business services, a huge category with 22 million employees. The category includes professional, scientific and technical services; management of companies and companies; Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services.
This industry category includes some of the technology and social media companies. Others are in the “information” area or other categories.
The labor market in this sector has eased somewhat but remains tight, with job vacancies still 35% higher than the same period in 2019:
- Vacancies 3MMA: -43,000
- On 1.64 million openings
- From 2019: +35%.
manufacturing, 13 million employees. The labor shortage has disappeared, but the labor market remains quite tight. Compared to 2019, job offers increased by 36%.
- Vacancies 3MMA: -19,000
- To 570,000 openings
- From 2019: +36%
health and social assistance, 21 million employees:
- Vacancies 3MMA: -32,000
- On 1.71 million openings
- From 2019: +49%.
Leisure and hospitality16 million employees:
- Vacancies 3MMA: -30,000
- To 1.25 million openings
- From 2019: +25%.
Retail trade, 15.5 million employees. About half of this industry has been under ongoing pressure from e-commerce for years. The other half (gas stations, car dealers and grocery stores) have largely weathered the onslaught of e-commerce.
- Vacancies 3MMA: -20,000
- To 596,000 openings
- From 2019: -26%.
State and local government, primarily in the education sector, 20 million employees. There are still signs of a teacher shortage:
- Vacancies 3MMA: -13,000
- To 829,000 openings
- From 2019: +27%.
Wholesale6 million employees.
- Vacancies 3MMA: +12,000
- On 233,000 openings
- From 2019: +15%.
Arts, entertainment and recreation2.6 million employees.
- Vacancies 3MMA: -1,000
- To 179,000 openings
- From 2019: +38%.
Do you enjoy reading WOLF STREET and would you like to support it? You can donate. I appreciate it very much. Click on the beer and iced tea mug to find out how:
Would you like to be notified by email when WOLF STREET publishes a new article? Login here.
