Jobs · USDUsual scheduleLive week from the calendar

JOLTS job openings: release time and what it moves

US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Usually early in the month, for the month two months before, usually at 10:00 AM New York time. What it is, what traders watch and how the WhitePips rules treat trading around it.

  • Monthlyhow often
  • 10:00 AMNew York time
  • Red or Amberusual calendar rating

JOLTS on this week's calendar

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Times in your own time zone and in New York; releases already out are dimmed. Red is high impact, Amber medium; the ratings are the calendar feed's.

JobsUSD

What JOLTS is

JOLTS job openings

JOLTS counts the jobs US employers have open on the last business day of the month, along with hires, quits and layoffs. It shows the demand side of the labour market, where Non-Farm Payrolls shows how many people were actually hired.

Its data is a month older than NFP's, but openings and the quits rate are watched closely as signs of how tight the labour market is and how fast wages may rise.

When it comes out

Published by
US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
How often
Monthly
Usual day
Usually early in the month, for the month two months before
Usual time
10:00 AM New York; 14:00 UTC while the US is on daylight time, 15:00 UTC in winter
On the calendar as
JOLTS Job Openings
Usual rating
Red or Amber

What traders watch

Openings against the forecast

Fewer openings point to a cooling labour market.

The quits rate

People quit when they are confident of finding a better job; falling quits mean less pressure on wages.

Openings per unemployed person

A simple measure of how tight the market is.

On MetaTrader 5Pip value, lots and commission

Symbols JOLTS moves

The WhitePips symbols that usually react most to JOLTS. Each page has the pip or point value, a lot-size example and the commission on every plan.

EURUSDEuro / US dollarUSDJPYUS dollar / Japanese yenXAUUSDGoldUS500US 500USDIDXUS dollar index

Futures on Volumetrica: ESE-mini S&P 500GCGold

Trading Rules, section 11In the rules' own words

Trading JOLTS at WhitePips

CFD plans Every plan, every stage

News trading is permitted on every CFD plan. You may open, hold and close positions before, during and after economic releases on every CFD plan, in the evaluation and once funded. There is no restricted window around a release on a CFD account, and no profit is removed because a trade was placed around news.

News straddling is not permitted. On every CFD plan, you may not open straddled, offsetting or hedged exposure on the same or correlated instruments within 15 minutes before or after a scheduled Red or Amber (high or medium impact) economic event, a company earnings release, or a major geopolitical announcement, where the purpose is to capture the volatility of the event rather than to take a view on its outcome. Placing a buy and a sell (or a buy stop and a sell stop) on the same instrument, or opposite positions on correlated instruments such as EURUSD and USDCHF, so that whichever way the price jumps one side profits, is straddling. A single position, or positions in one direction, taken on your own view of the release is not.

Trading Rules, sections 11.1 and 11.2. Each straddle is detected and referred to the risk desk, never penalised automatically.

Futures plans One Step funded, Instant

Futures plans. On the futures plans news trading is permitted during the One Step evaluation. On a funded futures account (One Step funded and Instant) no trade may be opened or closed from two minutes before to two minutes after a high-impact release; a position opened before the window may be held through it. Profit from such a trade is removed and the loss stays. The first and second violations are warnings, and the third is referred for compliance review. A news trading violation never ends an account automatically. The releases are those marked as high impact in the economic calendar shown in the dashboard or notified to you.

Trading Rules, section 11.4.

CFD plans: no straddling9:45 AM to 10:15 AM New YorkFunded futures: no trade opened or closed9:58 AM to 10:02 AMJOLTS 10:00 AM
−20 min−15−2+2+15+20 min
A single position taken on your own view, before or after the release, is fine on every CFD plan. On a funded futures account a position opened before the two-minute window may be held through it.

Section 11 of the Trading Rules News trading, explained

QuestionsShort answers

JOLTS: questions

What time is JOLTS released?

Usually at 10:00 AM New York time: 14:00 UTC while the US is on daylight time, 15:00 UTC in winter. Usually early in the month, for the month two months before.

How often is JOLTS released?

Monthly. Usually early in the month, for the month two months before. The exact dates are set by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS); the dashboard's economic calendar shows the coming week.

Can I trade JOLTS on a WhitePips account?

On every CFD plan, yes: news trading is allowed in the evaluation and once funded. What is not allowed is straddling, opening both directions (or offsetting positions on correlated instruments) within 15 minutes either side of a Red or Amber release to catch the spike; the risk desk reviews it. On a funded futures account, no trade may be opened or closed from two minutes before to two minutes after a high-impact release.

Which markets move most on JOLTS?

On the WhitePips platforms: EURUSD, USDJPY, XAUUSD, US500, USDIDX, and on futures ES, GC.

Why is JOLTS data two months old?

The survey takes longer to collect and process than the payroll survey, so each release covers the month before last. Markets still react because it is the main measure of labour demand.

CFDs and futuresNo time limit

Put the numbers to work

Every plan, size and price, with the rules printed before you buy. News trading is allowed on every CFD plan.

See the plansTrading calculator