Mapped: Unemployed Workers vs. Job Openings, by U.S. State

The Visual Capitalist ^ | 08/05/2023 | Avery Koop

[SeekAndFind]

In the United States, there were about 75 workers available for every 100 job openings as of July 2023. This means there is a significant gap between labor and jobs available, but also many opportunities present in some states for potential job seekers.

In the map below, using data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Visual Capitalist's Avery Koop and Bhabna Banerjee showcase the number of available workers per 100 job openings in each U.S. state.

Note: Available workers are unemployed workers who are in the labor force but do not have a job, have looked for one in the previous four weeks, and are currently able and available to work. Job openings are simply all unfulfilled positions that offer available work.

Workers and Job Openings by State

The below table lists out the number of unemployed workers per 100 jobs in every state.

Higher ratios, such as 110 workers per 100 job openings, mean there is more competition for each job opening in that state. Lower ratios suggest that it is harder to find workers in a given state.

Rank	State	Available Workers per 100 Job Openings
#T1	California	110.0
#T1	New York	110.0
#3	New Jersey	108.0
#4	Connecticut	102.0
#5	Washington	101.0
#6	Nevada	98.0
#7	Texas	89.0
#8	Pennsylvania	88.0
#9	Michigan	85.0
#10	Hawaii	79.0
#11	Oregon	77.0
#12	Arizona	76.0
#13	Illinois	75.0
#T14	Indiana	74.0
#T14	Rhode Island	74.0
#16	Delaware	72.0
#17	Kentucky	66.0
#18	Ohio	65.0
#T19	Alaska	63.0
#T19	New Mexico	63.0
#21	Wyoming	61.0
#22	Louisiana	60.0
#T23	Florida	59.0
#T23	Kansas	59.0
#T25	Missouri	58.0
#T25	West Virginia	58.0
#T27	Georgia	57.0
#T27	Iowa	57.0
#T29	Idaho	56.0
#T29	Tennessee	56.0
#T31	District of Columbia	55.0
#T31	Mississippi	55.0
#T31	North Carolina	55.0
#T34	Colorado	54.0
#T34	Minnesota	54.0
#36	South Carolina	53.0
#37	Wisconsin	52.0
#38	Virginia	51.0
#T39	Maine	50.0
#T39	Oklahoma	50.0
#41	Utah	48.0
#42	Montana	46.0
#43	Alabama	45.0
#T44	Arkansas	44.0
#T44	Massachusetts	44.0
#T44	Vermont	44.0
#47	New Hampshire	41.0
#48	Maryland	40.0
#49	Nebraska	40.0
#50	North Dakota	35.0
#51	South Dakota	35.0
U.S. Total		75.0

While states like New Jersey and California have more workers that they know what to do with, states like North Dakota have a 0.35 ratio of people to jobs, potentially tipping the balance of power to job seekers.

Over the last three years, job openings have increased the most in the state of Georgia, where there were only 0.57 people available for every open role in July. But despite growth in open positions, unemployment has hardly changed over the last year, wavering around 3%.

The Reason for the Gap

“If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have 4 million open jobs.”

- U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the main driver of the current labor shortage was the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing more than 100,000 businesses to close temporarily and resulting in millions losing their jobs.

Subsequent government support for those who lost work and other subsidies made it easier for people to stay home and out of the workforce. A Chamber of Commerce survey found that 1-in-5 people have changed their work style since the pandemic, with 17% having retired, 19% having transitioned to a homemaker role, and another 14% working only part time.

The industries with the highest unemployment rates are also those that have added the most jobs, with leisure and hospitality experiencing the highest rates (5.1%) just ahead of wholesale and retail trade (4.4%).

Overall, though the job marker has started to cool somewhat, hiring is still outpacing quit rates. The national quit rate in July 2023 was 3.8%, compared to a hiring rate of 4%. And with 9.8 million job openings in the U.S., there should be ample opportunities for job seekers.

[Cronos]

The start is always bad. HR says they want a beginner with 5 years experience.

I can only tell you 2 things

1. It gets better after 5 years working

2. Tell him to get a job anywhere as IT support, eden for a small company. It’s a start.

[ransomnote]

After workers have languished on the unemployment rolls and used up their funds, they drop off the rolls and are no longer counted as unemployed, although they are likely still seeking work to put a roof over their heads and food on the table. So the employment outlook in, say, California is likely far worse than stated. California was ‘closed’ to tourists during the Covid thing and likely still hasn’t regained it’s footing financially as people financially burdened after businesses simply closed and never reopened, are less likely to have funds for travel.

[ByteMercenary]

“If every unemployed person US citizen in the country found a job, we would still have 4 million open jobs.” Unless one is a citizen or has a green card, there should be no jobs available until every US citizen is employed.

[LumberJack53213]

I graduated in the mid 80s with a bachelor degree in finance, the Sunday paper was my only source of any jobs. I’d put my only suit on and walk into banks with my resume. You’re right, todays job hunting is a cake walk.

[sauropod]

Bkmk

[LumberJack53213]

The job market was so bad in the 80s for new college graduates, I would call and leave messages obsessively with people I interviewed with just reminding them I wanted the job. I was shot down most of the time until one job opened up due to an applicant not accepting and I got the call.

Resilience, grit , etc is needed and I think the only motivator for me was hunger and shelter, but I do believe it made me a good salesman.

[central_va]

The Reason for the Gap = Refusing to pay market rates for labor.

[joethedrummer]

Too bad that nowadays it requires a Bachelor’s degree to get a $15/hr customer service job or as a janitor.

People past their 30’s/40’s, who got dumped during Covid do not have time to do 4 years of college while trying to maintain the home and family - for a minimum wage job. It’s a weird thing.

[central_va]

Truth:

There is no such thing as a labor shortage there are only wage shortages.

[Bookshelf]

I really question the Dakota data now that Biden has basically eliminated the spudding of new wells. On appearance, the female author has the looks of a sixteen year old high school student. (I suffer from lookism.)

[RebelTXRose]

Tell him about Adam Karpiak’s job listing on LinkedIn.

[mewzilla]

And yet Micron sited in Upstate NY...

Gee, I wonder why?

Snort.

[mewzilla]

They’re not accurate in NYS.

Nor even for the public sector.

There are large numbers of jobs open.

But people either don’t want to move here or don’t want to work.

[pas]

That and keep trying. When I left the Army in the late 80s I had the same issue. Then accepted 3 jobs in 2 weeks each better than the previous.

Might need to check with the big outsourcing companies. IBM, Accenture, DXC, Wipro ....

[Gay State Conservative]

later

[Gay State Conservative]

A couple of years ago I had a temp job with the Census Bureau and my boss told me that there was a good permanent job I could have in NYC. I asked if I could telecommute and was told no.

Although I wouldn't mind living in the Connecticut suburbs they're as expensive as hell so I couldn't do it. As for NY and NJ...no way in hell!

[Myrddin]

My local Garcia's Mexican restaurant recently closed. That sent the service staff on a job hunt again. A couple of them landed positions at McKenzie River. One at Texas Roadhouse. The surprise came on Friday when one of the young ladies showed up at my house to mark my utilities. I'm digging a 3 ft deep x 10 inch hole for an antenna footing. She updated the gas, electric and communications paint stripes. The job pays a lot more than serving food. In this case, the forced job change was a win.

[cgbg]

Networking is the best way to get a good job.

He needs to know somebody who knows somebody.

The breakdown of community has made this harder.

When I was a young man (many decades ago) I could get a serious face to face interview with almost every significant employer in the area. Inevitably they knew somebody who knew someone in my family—or a family of my friends.

[Myrddin]

After finishing my BA in Molecular Biology at UCSD (1976) at age 19, I moved on to grad school in microbiology at SDSU. I ran into a few people in ham radio and decided it was time to take the test. Earned Tech class in a week. More rubbing shoulders with the ham community and I learned about 2nd Class Radiotelephone license. A couple weeks of study and I passed that exam at the FCC office. I was further intrigued and passed the First Class Radiotelephone license exam and Ship's RADAR endorsement. My mom happened to be scanning the classified job ads and spotted an opening at Marine Electric Company in San Diego. It paid better than my job a Radio Shack, so off to the waterfront. It was nice blend of work on tuna seiners, crab boats, freighters, Navy subs and base stations. Doubled my hourly the first year.

I realized that the potential for income growth wasn't there on the waterfront. I applied to Pacific Telephone and after months of calling regularly, I was hired as a central office equipment engineer. Mostly a pencil pushing job. Writing orders to Western Electric, updating floor plans. Tracking completion of facilities moves and removal/installation of equipment at the CO. Time to move up. Huge amounts of reading on UNIX/C. A few successful software projects and I was out of engineering and into the IT side of the house. Concurrent with the pencil pushing, I earned a teaching credential and taught embedded systems at Southwestern College from 1980 to 1983. The extra income financed a fixed wing, private pilot license.

The point of the details is that sometimes you will need to take some detours to get a foot in the door. Along the way, pick up some skills to improve your future options.

That private pilot license and software engineering skills was entree to be the project lead for a mission planning system for 3 fixed wing and two helicopters. I wrote all of the quadri-linear interpolation code for the Phenom 100 jet as well as both helos that allowed the mission planning system to support military ops in the field. The predecessor to that code was used at the Top Gun training school.

[married21]

I think so too. Daughter and son-in-law recently started attending a small church where they are among older people who might offer assistance. I think as they get to know people, they can start making connections.