Work, occupations and opportunity
Examples use releases available September 5, 2026. Dates and survey coverage are stated beside the findings.
For a worker or jobseeker, three questions matter: which employers are expanding, which kinds of work are growing, and how much hiring is happening. Each requires a different measure.
Employers and occupations answer different questions
CES payroll employment groups jobs by the employer's industry. CPS employment groups people by characteristics such as their primary occupation. A software developer working for a bank belongs to the banking industry and a technical occupation. Industry and occupation totals cannot be added or used to divide up the same payroll gain. Sources: CES concepts and CPS definitions.
Over the year ending August 2026, the CPS estimated these changes in employed women, not seasonally adjusted:
| Broad occupation | Change in employed women |
|---|---|
| Management, professional and related | +846,000 |
| Production, transportation and material moving | +404,000 |
| Natural resources, construction and maintenance | +50,000 |
| Sales and office | −89,000 |
| Service | −373,000 |
Sources: management and professional, production and transportation, natural resources and construction, sales and office, and service.
These are same-month annual comparisons, not hiring counts. Sampling variability and January population-control updates affect their interpretation; the differences are not significance tests.
Where agriculture fits
CPS covers agriculture and self-employment, which CES nonfarm payrolls exclude. In August 2026, seasonally adjusted CPS employment was 2.444 million people in agriculture and related industries and 160.325 million in nonagricultural industries. Both are published household-survey estimates. Adding agricultural people to the CES payroll headline would mix people with jobs and different survey scopes. Sources: agriculture employment and nonagricultural employment.
Openings are not a hiring probability
JOLTS measures vacancies at the end of a month and hires and separations throughout the month. In July 2026, there were 7.271 million openings and 6.916 million unemployed people, or a derived 1.05 openings per unemployed person, seasonally adjusted. The openings estimate and derived ratio are preliminary. Sources: JOLTS openings and CPS unemployed people.
Vacancies and jobseekers differ in location, skills and other requirements. The ratio is national context, not the probability that a particular person will find work. JOLTS industry data also cannot reveal how many openings target a particular occupation or experience level.
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