WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers ramped up their job postings in September as stronger economic growth may be encouraging more hiring. Yet voters are headed to the polls Tuesday largely gloomy over an economy beset by higher prices.
U.S. job openings jumped to 7.5 million from a revised 7.19 million in August, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. It is the largest number of openings since May and up from a recent low of 6.9 million in March.
The department’s
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also showed that gross hiring — job gains before subtracting people who quit or lost jobs — rose and layoffs fell in September.
The increases are a hopeful sign that hiring could improve, but the trend would have to continue for several months to suggest real improvement. Hiring has been sluggish for nearly three years, though layoffs have also been historically low, a sign of meager “churn” in the labor market. Low churn means those who are employed are enjoying relatively high levels of job security, but it is much harder than normal for those looking for work to find a job.
The government will issue the October jobs report on Friday, which is forecast to show that employers added 65,000 positions last month, according to data provider FactSet. That would be an improvement from 29,000 in September. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at a low 4.2%.
Typically, job gains of just 65,000 would be seen as a sign of a struggling economy, but with the giant baby boom generation retiring and immigration sharply reduced, the economy doesn’t need to generate as many jobs as it has in the past for unemployment to remain low.
In September, layoffs fell sharply to just 1.64 million, the fewest since March 2025. The number of people quitting their jobs rose to 3.37 million, the highest in about 18 months, and up from 3.04 million.
The rise in quits is generally a good sign because workers usually leave a job when they either have another lined up or when they are confident they can find new work.
