Key facts
- Job openings rose by 333,000 to 7.523 million on the last business day of September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
- The 7.523 million openings exceeded the 7.100 million economists polled by Reuters had forecast.
- August openings were revised up to 7.190 million from the previously reported 7.079 million.
- Hiring rose by 131,000 to 5.402 million, and layoffs and discharges fell by 127,000 to 1.641 million.
- Economists polled by Reuters said the US-Israeli war with Iran was making employers hesitant to boost hiring.
US job openings increased by 333,000 to 7.523 million on the last business day of September, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Tuesday.
The reading topped the 7.100 million unfilled positions economists polled by Reuters had forecast. Data for August was revised slightly higher to show 7.190 million vacancies instead of the previously reported 7.079 million, and the job openings rate rose to 4.5% from 4.3% in August.
Hiring increased by 131,000 to 5.402 million in September, lifting the hires rate to 3.4% from 3.3% in August. Layoffs and discharges decreased by 127,000 to 1.641 million, and the layoffs rate fell to 1.0% from 1.1%.
Economists polled by Reuters described the labor market as continuing in a low-hire, low-fire state, with strong profits and resilient domestic demand keeping layoffs near historic lows. They said the US-Israeli war with Iran was making employers hesitant to boost hiring.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 29,000 jobs in September. A Reuters survey of economists expects payrolls to have advanced by 65,000 in October, with the unemployment rate forecast unchanged at 4.2%. The survey has been dogged by a low response rate, well below the level before the COVID-19 pandemic, the bureau said.