US job openings reach 7.5 million, with factories listing half again as many as a year ago

US employers had 7.5 million job openings at the end of September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which the agency called "little changed" even though the preliminary level was 333,000 above August's revised figure.

The headline count moved less than the table beneath it

The BLS put job openings at 7,523,000 in September, a rate of 4.5%, against a revised 7,190,000 and 4.3% in August. The agency's summary said the number and rate of openings "were little changed".

The year-earlier comparison is clearer. September 2025 showed 7,169,000 openings, so the September 2026 level is 354,000, or 4.9% (computed), higher. All figures are seasonally adjusted, and September's is preliminary.

August was revised up by 111,000, to 7.2 million, which narrows the apparent monthly gain.

Factories list half again as many openings as a year ago

Openings in manufacturing stood at 584,000 in September, up from 389,000 a year earlier, an increase of 195,000 or 50% (computed). Construction openings went to 298,000 from 206,000, an increase of 92,000 or 45% (computed).

Professional and business services (1,310,000) and trade, transportation and utilities (1,283,000) had the most openings. Finance and insurance openings were 289,000, down 42,000 from August, while information rose 25,000 to 116,000. The BLS named one industry with a monthly increase in openings: state and local government, excluding education, where openings increased by 104,000.

Hires were flat while more people quit

Hires "changed little" at 5.4 million and a rate of 3.4%. Quits, the separations workers start themselves, increased to 3.4 million, with a rate that was little changed at 2.1%. Over the year, total nonfarm quits increased by 375,000, the BLS said.

Layoffs and discharges were little changed at 1.6 million, a rate of 1.0%. August's layoffs figure was revised up by 127,000 to 1.8 million.

Accommodation and food services accounted for much of the movement in hires and separations: hires there rose 158,000, total separations 195,000 and quits 197,000.

The next reading is due December 1

The BLS scheduled the October JOLTS release for Tuesday, December 1, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. ET. The survey is a month-end snapshot of openings, so a single month's increase can be reversed by revisions, as August's was.

A gap between openings and hires is the figure we would keep watching

We think this report shows a labor market with more posted demand than realized hiring: 7.5 million openings against 5.4 million hires. The factory and construction gains are the part of the picture that looks durable, because they sit well above year-earlier levels, while the monthly gain in the total is one the BLS calls little changed. The opportunity is that rising quits suggest workers feel able to move; the threat is that openings which do not turn into hires add little to wage or payroll growth and may keep pay pressure alive in an economy where prices are already under pressure. We expect the picture to be clearer over the next six to twelve months if hires start to follow openings. Our view would change if the October report shows openings falling back toward 7.2 million while layoffs stay near 1.8 million.

The view in this final section is FinanceInTime's editorial opinion, for information only. It is not investment, tax, legal or other advice, and it does not take your circumstances into account. Forecasts are uncertain and past results do not guarantee future ones.