Job openings posted big September gain in positive sign for labor market ahead of payrolls report

Job openings surged in September, as did the number of workers who quit their positions, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday, while hiring also rose and layoffs dropped.

In its monthly look at labor market slack and worker mobility, the BLS reported job openings at 7.52 million, up 333,000 from August and well above the Dow Jones consensus outlook for 7.15 million.

As a share of the total workforce, the rate of job openings increased to 4.5%, up 0.2 percentage point from the prior month, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. There are now some 414,000 more job openings than workers classified as unemployed, or about 1.05 openings to every available worker.

Openings rose in manufacturing (54,000) as well as state and local government (108,000) and professional and business services (106,000).

At the same time, the total of employees leaving their jobs spiked to 3.36 million, an increase of 321,000 from August and the highest level since March 2025. Quits are considered a barometer for worker confidence in finding new jobs after leaving their prior positions.

"There are more job openings than unemployed people in the United States right now. That doesn't solve all problems, but it's a big change from a year ago," said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. "It's an encouraging sign that despite all the headwinds right now with high diesel and gas prices and ongoing inflation problems, companies are slowly increasing their hiring."

Hires rose on the month, up 131,000 to 5.4 million, while layoffs and discharges fell by 127,000 to 1.64 million, the lowest since March 2025.

The report comes ahead of the October nonfarm payrolls report, which the BLS will release Friday. The Wall Street consensus is for an increase of 59,000 after September eked out a gain of just 29,000, while the unemployment rate is figured to hold at 4.2%.