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The U.S. labor market has long been measured by the number of job openings, but a closer look reveals a troubling truth: Not all postings are real opportunities.
An analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) shows a structural imbalance. Millions of job postings never result in an actual hire, creating what’s become known as the “ghost job economy.”
In June 2025 alone, employers reported 7.4 million openings but made only 5.2 million hires. That left more than 2.2 million jobs that never materialized.
For job seekers, that means wasted time. For policymakers, it means distorted data. For employers, it raises serious credibility issues.
Key Takeaways
- Nearly 1 in 3 job postings go nowhere. In June 2025, 30% of job openings never resulted in a hire, more than 2.2 million roles that never materialized.
- The gap isn’t new. Since 2021, the “phantom gap” between openings and hires has held steady at 28%–38% each month.
- The gap peaked in 2021. Job postings surged above 11 million, but hires flatlined at 6–7 million.
- The worst-hit sectors include education & health (50%), government (60%), information (48%), and financial activities (44%).
- Exceptions exist in construction and hospitality, where hires often match or even exceed openings.
Why it matters: Ghost jobs and fake job postings waste job seekers’ time, contribute to career stagnation, skew policymaker data, and erode employer credibility.
How We Got Here: A Historical Shift
Why do companies post ghost jobs? For more than a decade after the Great Recession, job postings and hires moved in tandem, with only modest gaps between them. But beginning in 2021, the relationship between openings and hires fractured, and it hasn’t recovered since.
- 2010–2014: Following the Great Recession, job openings ranged between 2 million and 4 million, and hires closely tracked these openings. The gap rarely exceeded 500,000.
- 2015–2019: Openings rose steadily to 6–7 million, with hires nearly matching. The gap was small, often under 10%.
- 2020: The pandemic cratered both openings and hires, but they rebounded in tandem.
- 2021–2022: The break. Openings spiked to record levels (11M+), but hires remained at approximately 6–7 million. As many as 38% of postings went nowhere.
- 2023–2025: The economy cooled, but the gap persisted. Today, the “ghost job rate” remains 28%–32%.
This turning point is best seen visually. The chart below shows how openings and hires moved together for years, until the lines diverged after 2021, creating millions of jobs that existed on paper only.
Sector Breakdown: Where Ghost Jobs Are Concentrated
Not all industries are equally affected by the ghost job economy. June 2025 JOLTS data reveals wide disparities:
Sector/Industry | Openings (000s) | Hires (000s) | Gap (O–H) | Ghost Job Rate |
All Nonfarm (Total) | 7,357 | 5,267 | 2,090 | 28.4% |
Total Private | 6,536 | 4,935 | 1,601 | 24.5% |
Mining & Logging | 26 | 21 | 5 | 19.2% |
Construction* | 242 | 348 | –106 | –44% |
Manufacturing | 396 | 293 | 103 | 26.0% |
Trade, Transportation, & Utilities | 1,102 | 1,041 | 61 | 5.5% |
Information | 189 | 99 | 90 | 47.6% |
Financial Activities | 366 | 205 | 161 | 44.0% |
Professional & Business Services | 1,365 | 1,010 | 355 | 26.0% |
Education & Health Services | 1,570 | 785 | 785 | 50.0% |
Leisure & Hospitality | 1,034 | 1,013 | 21 | 2.0% |
Other Services | 245 | 121 | 124 | 50.6% |
Government (All Levels) | 821 | 331 | 490 | 59.7% |
*Construction shows a negative gap because reported hires exceeded openings in June 2025.
The chart below highlights the ghost job rate by sector as of June 2025. Red bars indicate industries where job postings far outpace actual hires, yellow shows where hires exceeded openings (as in construction), and blue highlights the overall national average across all nonfarm industries.
This breakdown indicates that ghost jobs are primarily concentrated in the government, education, healthcare, financial services, and information industries.
In contrast, consumer-facing sectors such as construction and hospitality maintain a relatively healthy alignment between postings and hires.
The U.S. labor market looks deceptively strong on paper. Millions of openings suggest opportunity, but many are illusions. The ghost job economy inflates hope, wastes job seekers’ time, and clouds the data policymakers rely on to steer the economy.
Until postings more accurately reflect actual hiring, workers will continue to chase jobs that don’t exist, and trust in the labor market will erode.
Limitations: Why Some Gaps Exist
It’s important to note that not every unfilled posting is a deliberate “ghost job.” Several structural factors contribute to the persistent gap between openings and hires:
- Labor shortages: Some industries, particularly healthcare and education, struggle to recruit sufficient numbers of qualified workers despite genuine job openings.
- Recruitment pipelines: Employers may leave postings open to build candidate pools for future roles, even if they don’t plan to hire immediately.
- Administrative delays: Budget freezes, internal approvals, or shifting priorities can leave roles posted but unfilled for months.
- High-turnover industries: Sectors like hospitality may post continuously to maintain a candidate pipeline, even if current staffing needs are already met.
These limitations suggest the ghost job economy is a mix of intentional overposting and structural labor challenges. While not all postings are fake, the scale of the gap shows many workers are chasing opportunities that may never materialize.
For press inquiries, contact Nathan Barber at nathan.barber@bold.com.
Methodology
This analysis was conducted by MyPerfectResume using publicly available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
To measure the scale of “ghost jobs,” we defined the gap as the difference between the number of job openings employers reported and the number of hires they actually made. For example, in June 2025, JOLTS data showed 7.437 million openings but only 5.204 million hires, leaving 2.233 million roles that never materialized.
To understand how this imbalance developed, we examined historical trends in job openings and hires from 2010 through 2025, drawing on Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED series JTSJOL and JTSHIL). We also analyzed industry-level results from the June 2025 JOLTS release, which provides a breakdown across all nonfarm sectors of the economy.
This approach allowed us to capture both the long-term structural divergence between openings and hires and the specific industries where ghost jobs are most concentrated.
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The Ghost Job Economy: 1 in 3 U.S. Job Listings Lead Nowhere
Jasmine is certified career coach and recognized expert in job search strategy. She is committed to helping job seekers navigate the job market and succeed in their careers.
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