America’s labor market still had millions of jobs waiting to be filled in June, but opportunities were not evenly spread across industries.
The U.S. recorded 7.4 million job openings in June 2026, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
That was down from 7.537 million in May, but above the 7.204 million recorded in June 2025.
The numbers suggest a labor market that is cooling from month to month, but still has substantial demand for workers.
More importantly, the data shows that some industries are expanding their demand for workers while others are pulling back.
TL;DR
- The U.S. had 7.36 million job openings in June 2026.
- Trade, transportation, and utilities led with 1.33 million openings.
- Construction openings rose sharply, while healthcare and hospitality declined.
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Trade and services dominate
| wdt_ID | wdt_created_by | wdt_created_at | wdt_last_edited_by | wdt_last_edited_at | Industries | 2026(p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | Total | 7,359 |
| 2 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | Total private | 6,536 |
| 3 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | Private education and health services | 1,475 |
| 4 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | Health care and social assistance | 1,347 |
| 5 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | Trade, transportation, and utilities | 1,330 |
| 6 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | Professional and business services | 1,304 |
| 7 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | Leisure and hospitality | 830 |
| 8 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | Retail trade | 774 |
| 9 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | Accommodation and food services | 684 |
| 10 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 05:20 PM | Manufacturing | 481 |
The largest pool of openings was in trade, transportation and utilities, with 1.33 million positions available in June.
Retail trade accounted for 774,000 of those openings, while transportation, warehousing and utilities had another 392,000. Wholesale trade contributed 165,000.
The broader category was also up significantly from 1.1 million openings in June 2025, suggesting that demand across businesses involved in moving and selling goods remains relatively strong.
Professional and business services followed with 1.3 million openings, although that was down from 1.4 million in May.
Healthcare also remained one of America’s biggest sources of available work. Healthcare and social assistance had 1.4 million openings in June.
Despite its size, however, the figure was below the 1.5 million recorded in May.
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Construction Bucks the Trend
One of the most striking figures comes from construction.
The industry had 305,000 job openings in June, compared with 291,000 in May and just 224,000 a year earlier.
That means construction openings were about 36% higher than they were in June 2025.
The increase stands out because total openings across the economy were only about 2% higher than a year earlier.
Construction therefore appears to be one of the sectors where demand for workers has strengthened considerably despite the broader cooling in job openings.
Manufacturing also had 481,000 openings, although that was below the 517,000 recorded in May.
ELI5
America still had 7.36 million open jobs in June, but employers are not hiring equally everywhere. Construction and trade had more openings, while healthcare and hospitality lost some. So the labor market is cooling overall, but some industries are still actively hiring.
Source:
Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
