The number of job openings continues to surge past the number of people unemployed across the U.S., the most recent data from the US Chamber of Commerce shows.
The number of job openings grew by 56,000 from August to September 2023, bringing the total number of open positions up to over three million more than the number of unemployed people across the nation.
"The gap between openings and available workers will persist because we have a structural shortage of workers for the foreseeable future,' said Curtis Dubay, Chief economist for the US Chamber of Commerce. "Businesses are still adding workers, and workers are still confident they can quit their current jobs and find better ones easily."
The most impacted by the worker shortage are small businesses. The US Chamber of Commerce believes "modernizing" the legal immigration system would help close the labor shortage gap.
"Securing our borders and updating our immigration laws to allow more workers into the U.S. would help businesses grow and prosper," Dubay added.