Job openings rose to 7.5 million in September as quits climbed

What happened

The Bureau of Labor Statistics published the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary for September 2026 on Tuesday 3 November: 7.5 million openings, 5.4 million hires, 3.4 million quits and 1.6 million layoffs and discharges. ^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]}

Openings were 7.523 million, against a revised 7.190 million in August, and the openings rate was 4.5 percent, up from 4.3 percent. The BLS called openings 'little changed', while Reuters wrote that they 'rose by 333,000', which is the difference between the two figures. ^{[1, 2, 6]}

Hires were 5.402 million, up 131,000, at a rate of 3.4 percent against 3.3 percent. Quits were 3.365 million, up 321,000, at a rate of 2.1 percent against 1.9 percent. Layoffs and discharges were 1.641 million, down 127,000 from August's 1.768 million, at a rate of 1.0 percent against 1.1 percent. ^{[3, 4, 5, 6]}

Why it matters

Quits, the workers who leave a job on their own, rose by the most since May 2023, and the level was the highest since March 2025, Reuters reported. Layoffs were the lowest since March 2025. ^[6]

There were 1.06 job openings for every unemployed person, up from 1.02 in August, Reuters wrote. ^[6]

The industries

The BLS named state and local government excluding education for openings, up 104,000, and accommodation and food services for hires, up 158,000. Quits rose 197,000 in accommodation and food services and fell 19,000 in arts, entertainment and recreation. ^[1]

Layoffs fell 70,000 in health care and social assistance, the BLS said. Its table shows layoffs in construction at 138,000, up from 113,000 in August. ^{[1, 5]}

Reuters added that private-sector openings were up 236,000, led by professional and business services with 106,000, then manufacturing with 54,000 and construction with 36,000. ^[6]

How it was read

Indeed Hiring Lab's Cory Stahle wrote that the quits rate was above 2 percent for the first time since June 2025, but called the signal 'faint'. He added that employers are hiring at the slowest pace since 2013 and workers are quitting at the slowest pace since 2015. ^[7]

Ben Ayers, senior economist at Nationwide, told Reuters that 'there are once again more job openings than unemployed workers', which suggests upward pressure on wages into 2027. ^[6]

What settles it next

The BLS scheduled the October 2026 release of the same survey for Tuesday 1 December at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. The September figures are preliminary and the BLS revises them with the next release. ^{[1, 2]}

Who it reaches

No single company is tagged: the survey counts jobs across whole industries, and the record gives no path to a named company. The industries named above are accommodation and food services, construction, health care, government and professional and business services. ^{[1, 6]}