US job openings held at 7.5M in September while quits climbed to 3.4M, the highest level in about 18 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Nov. 3.
The openings rate stayed at 4.5%, and hires came in at 5.4M against layoffs and discharges of 1.6M.
Total separations were little changed at 5.3M, a rate of 3.3%, and the hires rate held at 3.4%.
August openings were revised up by 111K to 7.2M, making September the largest number of openings since May and a clear step up from a recent low of 6.9M in March.
Quits Rose While Openings Held Near 7.5M
September 2026 JOLTS levels, millions of workers
Bar chart. Millions of workers. Job openings: Millions of workers 7.50. Hires: Millions of workers 5.40. Quits: Millions of workers 3.40. Layoffs and discharges: Millions of workers 1.60.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quits are the number that moved
Accommodation and food services drove the quits increase with a 197K jump, while arts, entertainment, and recreation shed 19K quits.
Over the year, total nonfarm quits rose by 375K.
August quits were revised down 22K to 3.0M, which makes the September pop look sharper.
People tend to leave a job when they already have another one lined up, or when they feel sure they can land one, which makes the quits rate a rough gauge of worker confidence.
The quits rate itself was little changed at 2.1%, so the move looks more like a thaw than a boom.
Hiring has been slow for almost three years, while layoffs have run historically low, so the labor market has very little churn.
That low churn cuts both ways: people with jobs enjoy solid security, while those looking have a harder time turning postings into offers.
Elsewhere in the report, state and local government excluding education added 104K openings, and layoffs in health care and social assistance fell by 70K.
Private-sector openings rose 236K to 6.644M, and government openings rose 98K to 880K.
Accommodation and food services added 158K hires and 195K total separations, so the industry churned on both sides.
What it means for rate expectations
For the optimists, the report serves up a neat trio: openings still on offer, quits climbing, and layoffs holding steady.
For the Federal Reserve, that weakens the argument for easing on employment grounds alone, a setup that typically supports Treasury yields and the dollar.
Labor market strength has been one of the key arguments for the Fed's ability to raise rates in September and potentially again in December, according to Yahoo Finance.
The Fed's tightening path has its own scoreboard.
Equities sit in the awkward middle, weighing resilient employment against less room for cuts.
Friday's October payrolls report is next, after 29K jobs added in September, with the unemployment rate expected to hold at 4.2%.
RBC economists see minimal risk of the unemployment rate rising from layoffs, pointing to jobless claims moving sideways and a falling underemployment rate.
They expect average hourly earnings rose 0.3% month on month in October, holding the annual pace at 3.0%.
The next JOLTS release, covering October, is scheduled for Dec. 1.
