The vast differences between industries.
By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.
Earlier today, we discussed how job openings, voluntary quits, layoffs & discharges, 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 survey of employers and not on internet job postings.
We’ll start with construction, because that’s the good news, and we’ll follow up with information, an industry that includes some tech and social media companies, where job openings collapsed.
And then we’ll look at some the major industry categories in between. All charts are the three-month moving averages (3MMA), which iron out the month-to-month ups and downs and show the trends. We also compare the 3MMA of November job openings to the same period in 2019.
Construction (8 million employees in all types of construction) is looking for you! We discussed the eyepopping boom in factory construction in December. Investment in buildings and infrastructure has been growing. Growth in single-family residential construction has resurged in the second half of 2023. And the labor market for construction workers is tight.
- Job openings 3MMA: +28,000
- To 434,000 openings, highest in the data
- From 2019: +44%
“Information,” a small sector with only 3 million employees, includes companies engaged in web search portals, data processing, data transmission, information services, software publishing, motion picture and sound recording, broadcasting including over the Internet, and telecommunications.
The three-month moving average has dropped so sharply in 2023 that in November, it was 20% below the same period in 2019!
- Job openings 3MMA: -23,000
- To 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 Enterprises; Administrative and Support, and Waste Management and Remediation Services.
This industry category includes some of the tech and social media companies. Others are in the “information” sector or in other categories.
The job market in this sector has loosened up some but still remains tight, with job openings still 35% higher than in the same period of 2019:
- Job openings 3MMA: -43,000
- To 1.64 million openings
- From 2019: +35%.
Manufacturing, 13 million employees. The labor shortages have vanished, but the job market remains fairly tight. Compared to 2019, job openings were up by 36%.
- Job openings 3MMA: -19,000
- To 570,000 openings
- From 2019: +36%
Healthcare and social assistance, 21 million employees:
- Job openings 3MMA: -32,000
- To 1.71 million openings
- From 2019: +49%.
Leisure and hospitality, 16 million employees:
- Job openings 3MMA: -30,000
- To 1.25 million openings
- From 2019: +25%.
Retail trade, 15.5 million employees. About half of this sector has been under relentless pressure from ecommerce for years. The other half (gas stations, auto dealers, and grocery stores) have largely weathered the onslaught of ecommerce.
- Job openings 3MMA: -20,000
- To 596,000 openings
- From 2019: -26%.
State & local government, mostly in Education, 20 million employees. You can still see the signs of some teacher shortages:
- Job openings 3MMA: -13,000
- To 829,000 openings
- From 2019: +27%.
Wholesale trade, 6 million employees.
- Job openings 3MMA: +12,000
- To 233,000 openings
- From 2019: +15%.
Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, 2.6 million employees.
- Job openings 3MMA: -1,000
- To 179,000 openings
- From 2019: +38%.
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