US job openings climb as layoffs hit a low last seen in 2025

US job openings rose to 7.523 million in September from 7.190 million in August, alongside fewer layoffs, the Labor Department reported.

The department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released the figures on November 3 through its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS. Vacancies increased by 333,000, while the August total was revised upward from 7.079 million.

The report showed a stronger appetite for workers than September’s modest payroll expansion alone suggested. Employers added just 29,000 payroll jobs that month, but the ratio of vacancies to unemployed people reached 1.06, compared with 1.02 in August, according to the supplied labor figures.

Vacancies rise faster than hiring

Private employers accounted for 236,000 of the additional openings, with professional and business services contributing 106,000, the bureau reported. State and local government outside education added 104,000 vacancies, slightly less than one-third of the overall increase.

The distribution was uneven across industries. Manufacturing vacancies increased by 54,000 and construction openings by 36,000, while financial activities, healthcare and social assistance, and leisure and hospitality recorded declines, according to the bureau.

Actual recruitment increased less than advertised demand: employers hired 5.402 million people, up 131,000 from August, the survey showed. Accommodation and food services contributed an increase of 158,000, exceeding the overall gain as hiring declined elsewhere, including manufacturing, professional and business services, financial activities and government.

The company-size breakdown also showed differences beneath the aggregate improvement. The bureau reported that hiring gains were concentrated among smaller and midsize businesses, while larger employers reduced recruitment; vacancies also fell at establishments employing between 50 and 249 people.

Lower layoffs accompany more resignations

Employers dismissed 1.641 million workers in September, down 127,000 from August and the lowest total since March 2025, according to the bureau. Healthcare and social assistance led the reduction, although construction recorded more dismissals.

Resignations moved in the opposite direction, increasing by 321,000 to 3.365 million. That monthly gain was the largest since May 2023, while the total reached its highest point since March 2025, the bureau reported.

Higher quits can suggest workers feel more comfortable changing jobs, but the report does not establish why individual employees left. Ben Ayers, senior economist at Nationwide, said vacancies exceeding the number of unemployed workers suggested upward wage pressure heading into 2027.

Fed weighs employment against inflation

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest-rate range at 3.75%–4.00% at its preceding meeting and described inflation as elevated. Matthew Martin, senior US economist at Oxford Economics, interpreted the employment figures as giving policymakers room to concentrate on prices rather than an immediate deterioration in jobs.

Martin said: "This will keep the Fed focused on the inflation side of its mandate." His forecast calls for increases at the December and March meetings; that is an economist’s assessment, not a commitment from the central bank.

If vacancies translate into sustained hiring, employers could face greater competition for staff and upward wage pressure, consistent with Ayers’s assessment. If recruitment instead remains uneven, higher advertised demand would offer less reassurance to job seekers; whether employers fill those openings is the central uncertainty behind September’s stronger figures.