US job openings (JOLTS)
How many jobs US employers want to fill.
The basics
JOLTS counts vacancies: jobs employers are trying to fill. Many openings for each person out of work means a tight jobs market and pressure on wages.
How to read the result
- Above the forecast
- More openings than forecast often lift the US dollar.
- Below the forecast
- Fewer openings than forecast often weaken the US dollar.
Going deeper
The quits rate in the same report shows how confident workers are about finding another job; falling quits usually lead slower wage growth.
FAQs
- Why can the price move the “wrong” way?
- Prices already reflect the forecast, so markets react to the surprise, not the number itself. Other parts of the same release, revisions to earlier months or other news in the same hour can outweigh the headline figure, and a first move often reverses within the hour.
- Should I close my trade before the release?
- That is your decision; this page does not give advice. What is certain is that prices can jump in seconds around big releases, spreads widen, and a stop loss can close at a worse price than the one you set. Many traders check their position size and stop before the release.