Demand for workers strengthened in September as U.S. job openings rose more than expected, new government data show.
Job vacancies climbed by 333,000 to a four-month high of 7.52 million, from an upwardly revised 7.19 million in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists had projected 7.1 million.
Private-sector openings were led by professional and business services (106,000), manufacturing (54,000), construction (36,000), and wholesale trade (21,000).
State and local government job vacancies—excluding education—also rose by 104,000.
The latest data suggest that the labor market remains in a low-hire, low-fire environment, with layoffs subdued and hiring activity showing little momentum.
Despite employers advertising more openings in September, new hires were flat at 5.4 million. U.S. firms also maintained their headcount, with layoffs and discharges also little changed at 1.6 million.
Job quits—a proxy economists use to gauge labor market confidence—rose by 321,000 to 3.37 million, the highest level since March 2025.
The quits rate—the percentage of total employees who voluntarily leave their jobs—jumped to a one-year high of 2.1 percent, up from 1.9 percent the previous month.
Accommodation and food services logged the most quits, climbing by 197,000. Conversely, arts, entertainment, and recreation recorded fewer resignations in September.
The labor market’s silence is concerning, especially for job seekers, said Cory Stahle, an economist at Indeed Hiring Lab.
“Stability can have its advantages, but quiet isn’t the same as healthy,” Stahle said in a Nov. 3 note.
“Job seekers are clearly losing out, but even workers who have jobs may not be coming out ahead. It’s a good time to have a job, if only because it’s hard to lose one.”
Job postings on Indeed have been trending up recently, and overall postings are nearly 4 percent above their February 2020 levels.
Recent consumer surveys, including The Conference Board’s October consumer confidence index, suggest that Americans are more optimistic about job conditions.
‘Stuck in Neutral’
The bureau’s latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary kicks off the week’s tranche of employment data.
The main event will be on Nov. 6, when the October nonfarm payrolls report is released.
The consensus estimate indicates that 65,000 new jobs were added last month, a modest rebound from the 29,000 positions created in September. The unemployment rate is also expected to hold steady at 4.2 percent.
“Employers seem content holding on to the workers they have, but aren’t particularly eager to add more,” Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, told The Epoch Times in an emailed note.
Payroll processor ADP will publish private-sector job numbers on Nov. 4. Global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas will release planned job cut announcements from U.S.-based firms a day later.
Several major companies—from American Express to Netflix—have announced plans to reduce headcount. Trading Economics estimates that the Challenger report will show 51,000 cuts.
“For now, this looks more like a labor market stuck in neutral than one headed off a cliff,” Woods added.
Holiday Hiring
Seasonal hiring is also underway, with companies projected to hire between 325,000 and 375,000 workers for this year’s holidays (Nov. 1 to Dec. 31), according to the National Retail Federation.
The strong hiring volumes reflect the trade group’s expectation of solid retail sales. Holiday sales are expected to increase by 4.2 percent from a year ago, totaling $1.01 trillion.
“We head into the holiday season with strong spending momentum, as consumers remain the bright spot in the economy,” Mark Mathews, chief economist at the National Retail Federation, said in a statement.
Seasonal hiring is off to its best start in several years, according to Indeed. Seasonal job postings were up by about 10 percent as of Sept. 30.
But more large employers are looking to fill nonseasonal and part-time positions, which could signal optimism at the end of 2026 heading into 2027.
Amazon recently said it is adding 300,000 U.S. workers for the holiday season, up by 20 percent from last year.
Reuters contributed to this report.
