How does Emsi Burning Glass job posting data compare to government data on job openings?

Lightcast Data: Benchmarking

How does Lightcast job posting data compare to government data on job openings? 

Lightcast uses the government data provided within JOLTS as a benchmark to confirm our data is in line with the current labor market trends, and to identify any potential anomalies. 

Data Sources & Collection Methods:

Data Source	Data Collected	Method
Lightcast Job Postings	New postings	Daily job postings collected from a vast set of sources
Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS)	Active job openings	Monthly survey

 

Key Differences:

• Lightcast removes duplicate postings after the first month the posting appears. For additional information please see our FAQ on Deduplication.
• JOLTS data appear in all subsequent months a posting is active – which creates an inflated job postings count.

 

Benchmarking:

Dating back to 2013, the share of monthly jobs online as captured by Lightcast is, on average, 99.1% of the jobs captured by JOLTS.

In some cases, an industry may be under-represented due primarily to vacancies that are not typically advertised online, for example construction, food prep, or arts and entertainment.