Kansas labor market conditions were heating up in December 2018. Kansas had the second highest job opening rate in the nation; however, the state was in the bottom third in its hiring rate. The acceleration in job opening and flat hiring is a sign of labor market pressures. The tightness in the labor market, as shown by a higher opening than hiring rate, increased each year over the last three years, according to a new data source from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (JOLT).