US Job Openings Hit Four-Month High as Layoffs Ease
More openings and fewer layoffs point to firmer footing for US workers, even as employment gains remained tepid in September.
More openings and fewer layoffs point to firmer footing for US workers, even as employment gains remained tepid in September. Employers reported 7.52 million vacancies, 333,000 more than in August and the highest level in four months.
The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, released Tuesday, also showed hiring and resignations increased. Layoffs fell to their lowest level in a year and a half, suggesting employers were adding opportunities without a corresponding rise in job cuts.
Openings rose across key sectors
Vacancies climbed in several parts of the economy. State and local government added 108,000 openings, while professional and business services gained 106,000 and manufacturing added 54,000.
The openings rate increased to 4.5% of the workforce, up 0.2 percentage point from August. There were about 414,000 more openings than unemployed people, or roughly 1.05 vacancies per job seeker. Another measure put the ratio at 1.06, compared with 1.02 in August.
Workers were also more willing to leave their jobs. Resignations rose by 321,000 to 3.36 million, the largest number in nearly three and a half years. Quits can leave vacancies employers then seek to fill, adding movement to the labor market even when overall employment growth is modest.
One month does not settle the outlook
The September figures offer a more positive snapshot of labor demand than the tepid employment gains reported for the month. But a single JOLTS release captures one point in a shifting labor market; the scheduled payrolls report was due Friday and would provide another key measure of employment.
The data also carry implications for the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate outlook. Labor-market resilience could give policymakers more room to raise rates to address inflation pressures linked to the conflict between the United States and Israel and Iran, now in its ninth month.
For workers, the mix of rising openings and falling layoffs suggests employers were still seeking staff while cutting fewer jobs. Whether that momentum holds will depend on what subsequent employment figures show.
