An Open Nshipyard project
Which side of the border has the tighter labour market?
The United States and Canada both publish job vacancy rates, but the raw numbers are not comparable. We put 44 quarters onto identical definitions. The answer is the United States, in every quarter since 2015.
1.87
percentage points: the US lead in 2026Q2, 4.67% against 2.80%
44/44
quarters the US has been tighter, from 2015Q1 to 2026Q2
2.46
percentage points: the widest gap, in 2021Q2
10
sector pairs compared on identical NAICS definitions
The vacancy rate on identical definitions, 2015 to 2026
US series excludes government (see methodology). Canada is the published JVWS total. Seasonally adjusted, quarterly.
What this project does
BLS JOLTS and the StatCan Job Vacancy and Wage Survey measure the same thing with different scopes, different timing, and different industry cuts. This project aggregates JOLTS to quarterly, removes the US public sector, recomputes the rate with the shared formula, and crosswalks JOLTS industries to NAICS sectors. The result is one downloadable series anyone can cite.
Three findings, each quotable →Widest sector gap · 2026Q2
Education and health services
US 5.37% · Canada 2.73% · +2.63 points
Download the harmonized series →