U.S. employers had 7.079 million job openings at the end of August, down 256,000 from a revised 7.335 million in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ August JOLTS release.
BLS released the data at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time on September 29, 2026, covering the number of positions open on the last business day of August. The seasonally adjusted job-openings rate fell to 4.3% from 4.4%.
The decline was larger than the original July comparison suggests because BLS revised July upward by 64,000, from 7.271 million to 7.335 million. The agency said the revision reflected additional reports received from businesses and government agencies and a recalculation of seasonal factors.
That revision is important when comparing the new reading with Investozora’s earlier July JOLTS report because the latest official July figure, rather than the initial estimate, is now the applicable benchmark.
August openings also came in below the 7.225 million median expectation in a Reuters poll of economists, putting the published result 146,000 below that forecast, a comparison reported by Reuters rather than BLS.
The most significant underlying change appeared by establishment size. BLS Table 7 shows openings at firms with 1 to 9 employees fell 335,000 to 1.050 million, while openings rose 27,000 at establishments with 10 to 49 employees, 67,000 at firms with 250 to 999 employees, 10,000 at firms with 1,000 to 4,999 employees, and 17,000 at the largest establishments.
Openings at firms with 50 to 249 employees were essentially unchanged, falling by 1,000. Because the small-establishment decline was larger than the 214,000 decline across the entire private sector, the August drop was concentrated disproportionately among the smallest businesses.
The industry figures show a similarly mixed pattern rather than a broad decline everywhere. BLS Table 1 shows job openings fell 119,000 in professional and business services, 115,000 in health care and social assistance, 54,000 in manufacturing, and 48,000 in construction.
Those reductions were partly offset by increases of 61,000 in leisure and hospitality, 54,000 in retail trade, 49,000 in finance and insurance, and 45,000 in information. The largest regional decline was in the West, where openings fell 243,000, compared with a 71,000 increase in the South.
Other JOLTS measures were comparatively stable. BLS reported 5.192 million hires in August, up 46,000 from July, while total separations fell 58,000 to 5.070 million. Quits remained at 3.1 million and the quits rate at 1.9%, while layoffs and discharges were 1.641 million and the layoffs rate was 1.0%.
The combination means August brought fewer advertised openings but not a corresponding increase in quits or layoffs, a distinction that matters when interpreting the labor-market signal.
The broader comparison is also mixed. August 2026 openings were 160,000 above the 6.919 million recorded in August 2025, an increase of about 2.3% based on an Investozora calculation from the BLS figures.
At the same time, August was 458,000 below May’s 7.537 million, showing that vacancies had retreated from the 2026 high even though they remained above the year-earlier level.
JOLTS measures labor demand and turnover rather than payroll employment itself, and BLS defines job openings as positions available on the last business day of the month, while hires and separations cover activity throughout the month.
BLS also uses concurrent seasonal adjustment, meaning seasonal factors are recalculated using current information and can contribute to future revisions; its JOLTS methods explain the process.
For readers following the wider labor picture alongside Investozora’s July labor market coverage, the next JOLTS report is scheduled for November 3, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. ET and will provide the September reading.
