BLS releases June job-openings data ahead of July employment report
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its June 2026 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Aug. 4, giving policymakers, employers and workers the latest official national measures of job openings, hires and worker separations before the next monthly jobs report.
JOLTS is a monthly federal labor-market series. It tracks job openings, hires and separations across the United States. Separations include workers who quit as well as those affected by layoffs and discharges.
The release does not replace the broader Employment Situation report. Instead, it provides a separate view of labor demand and worker movement before that report is issued.
What the release measures
Job openings are an indicator of positions employers are seeking to fill. Hires show additions to employers’ payrolls during the reference period. Separations capture departures from jobs and are divided into categories that include quits and layoffs and discharges.
Those measures answer different questions about the labor market. Openings address the demand for workers. Hires provide a measure of employment activity. Quits and layoffs show different forms of worker movement out of jobs. Taken together, the series gives readers and decision-makers more than a single count of payroll employment.
The June reference month matters because the data describe labor-market activity for June, while the release date was Aug. 4. The figures therefore offer a look at conditions during that earlier month rather than a real-time measure of the labor market on the day the release was published.
Why the timing matters
The June JOLTS release arrived two days before the scheduled July Employment Situation report. The July report is set for release on Aug. 7, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
That sequence gives analysts a labor-demand and worker-mobility reading before the more comprehensive monthly jobs report. JOLTS can help provide context for the later report, but the two releases are distinct and should not be treated as interchangeable.
The scheduled July report will cover July’s employment conditions, while the JOLTS release covers June. The difference in reference periods is important when readers compare the reports or assess whether labor-market conditions may be changing.
What the release does not establish by itself
JOLTS measures openings, hires and separations. It does not, on its own, establish a wage trend. Nor should the labor market be described as strengthening or weakening without examining the verified June figures and their appropriate comparisons.
The release also does not by itself provide the complete picture of employment, unemployment or payroll changes that readers will look for in the Employment Situation report. Those questions belong to the broader monthly jobs release scheduled for Aug. 7.
For workers, employers and policymakers, the practical value of the June data is the additional information about how many positions were available, how actively employers hired and how workers left jobs during the reference month. The categories can distinguish voluntary quits from layoffs and discharges, although the release should be read using the figures and definitions published by the BLS.
What comes next
The next scheduled national labor-market milestone is the July 2026 Employment Situation report on Aug. 7 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Until then, the June JOLTS release is the latest scheduled official indicator in this sequence for openings, hires and separations.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes JOLTS as a monthly national series through the U.S. Department of Labor. Its role in the release calendar is to provide a distinct measure of labor demand and worker mobility ahead of other major employment data.
Sources
- Schedule of Selected Releases 2026, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
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