Job openings jumped to 7.52 million in September, up 333,000 from August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This exceeded the Dow Jones consensus forecast of 7.15 million.
The job openings rate reached 4.5% of the total workforce, a 0.2 percentage point increase from August. The U.S. now has about 414,000 more job openings than unemployed workers, or roughly 1.05 openings for every available worker.
Openings grew in manufacturing (up 54,000), state and local government (up 108,000), and professional and business services (up 106,000).
Workers quitting their jobs spiked to 3.36 million, up 321,000 from August and the highest level since March 2025. Quits signal worker confidence in finding new employment.
Hires rose by 131,000 to 5.4 million in September. Layoffs and discharges fell by 127,000 to 1.64 million, the lowest since March 2025.
"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. She called it "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."
The BLS will release the October nonfarm payrolls report Friday. Wall Street consensus expects a gain of 59,000 jobs after September's gain of 29,000, with the unemployment rate holding at 4.2%.