Labor markets in the United States are tight

Ratio of the number of unemployed to the number of job vacancies, 2017–2022

Line chart of the ratio of the number of unemployed to the number of job vacancies, showing that labor market tightness is below the level before the 2020 recession.

Hover or click to see values.

Chart: Center for American Progress Source: Author's calculations using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data in Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), "Unemployment Level," available at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNEMPLOY (last accessed August 2022); and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data in FRED, "Job Openings: Total Nonfarm," available at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/JTSJOL (last accessed August 2022). Get the data