US Job Openings Jump to 7.52 Million in September
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 333,000 more openings in September, well above the forecast. Quits rose to their highest since March 2025 and layoffs fell.
US employers had more open jobs than there were unemployed workers in September. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data came days before the next monthly payrolls report.
An economist's read
Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said the situation "doesn't solve all problems, but it's a big change from a year ago". She called the data encouraging, despite high diesel and gas prices and ongoing inflation problems.
Workers are leaving and firms are hiring
Quits spiked by 321,000 to 3.36 million, the highest since March 2025. Quits are considered a barometer of worker confidence in finding a new job.
Hiring also rose, by 131,000 to 5.4 million. Layoffs and discharges fell by 127,000 to 1.64 million, the lowest since March 2025.
Openings beat the forecast
Job openings rose by 333,000 to 7.52 million, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed on Tuesday. The consensus forecast, compiled by Dow Jones, was 7.15 million.
The openings rate rose 0.2 percentage point to 4.5% of the workforce. That works out to about 1.05 openings for every available worker, or roughly 414,000 more openings than unemployed people.
Professional and business services (106,000), state and local government (108,000) and manufacturing (54,000) all added openings.
Friday's payrolls report
The October nonfarm payrolls report is due from the BLS on Friday. Wall Street expects a gain of 59,000 jobs, after September added only 29,000. The unemployment rate is forecast to hold at 4.2%.
In other data on Tuesday, September factory orders rose 1.8%. The estimate was 1.3%, and August's gain was 0.3%.
Our view
Openings, quits and hires rose while layoffs fell, which makes this report harder to dismiss as noise. Yet the payroll forecast of 59,000 jobs is modest next to the hiring figure of 5.4 million, and openings are not the same as filled jobs. Friday's payrolls number will show whether employers are actually converting vacancies into hires.
Source: CNBC