Economy

U.S. job openings jump to 7.5 million in September, beating forecasts as layoffs fall

Washington • November 3, 2026 • By Press Pass USA

Editorial illustration: job seekers seen from behind walking into a bright office building lobby past a bulletin board covered with job postings

Editorial illustration — Press Pass USA

U.S. job openings rose sharply in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday, in a sign that demand for workers remained firmer than expected even as employers added jobs only slowly — a report that landed on Election Day morning, hours before polls close across the country.

Openings, a measure of labor demand, rose by 333,000 to 7.523 million on the last day of September, according to the Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 7.100 million unfilled positions. The job openings rate rose to 4.5%, from 4.3% in August, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' own latest-numbers page confirms the September level of 7,523,000 and the 4.5% rate.

August was also revised higher, to 7.190 million vacancies from the previously reported 7.079 million, making September's increase look smaller against a stronger starting point — but still well above what forecasters expected.

Hiring picked up alongside openings: hires rose by 131,000 to 5.402 million in September, with the hires rate edging up to 3.4% from 3.3%. Layoffs and discharges fell by 127,000 to 1.641 million, with the layoff rate dropping to 1.0% from 1.1% — near historic lows, economists note.

Economists describe the labor market as continuing in a "low-hire, low-fire" state: employers are not cutting broadly, but they are not hiring aggressively either. Strong profits and resilient domestic demand have kept layoffs low, Reuters reported, while the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is making employers hesitant to boost hiring.

Inside the report, professional and business services led the increase in available positions, with openings rising by 106,000 to 1.310 million, and state and local government excluding education added 104,000 openings. Workers also quit in greater numbers: quits rose to 3.4 million, led by a 197,000 increase in accommodation and food services — a sign some workers felt confident enough to leave a job for another.

The report comes with a caveat Reuters flagged: the JOLTS survey has been plagued by a low response rate, which has fallen considerably from before the COVID-19 pandemic, so the figures are subject to revision.

For context, employers added just 29,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in September. A Reuters survey expects payrolls to have advanced by 65,000 in October, with the unemployment rate forecast unchanged at 4.2% — figures due Friday, November 6, in the October jobs report, the week's biggest data release.

Sources: Reuters, "US job openings increase sharply in September" (Nov. 3, 2026); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS Latest Numbers (September 2026: 7,523,000 openings, 4.5% rate).