WASHINGTON — The number of job openings was little changed at 7.5 million in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday, while hires and total separations also changed little at 5.4 million and 5.3 million, respectively.
Job openings rose by 333,000 to 7.523 million by the last day of September, according to the bureau's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS. Data for August was revised higher to show 7.190 million vacancies instead of the previously reported 7.079 million. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 7.100 million unfilled positions in September.
The report also showed the largest number of resignations in nearly three and a half years. Quits rose to 3.365 million, a rate of 2.1%, while layoffs and discharges fell to 1.641 million, a rate of 1.0%, the lowest in about a year and a half, according to Reuters. There were 1.06 job openings for every unemployed person in September.
Job openings increased in state and local government, excluding education, by 104,000. The job openings rate was 4.5%, while the hiring rate stood at 3.4%.
The JOLTS figures supported economists' views that the labor market remained on firmer footing despite tepid employment gains during September, when nonfarm payrolls increased by only 29,000 and the unemployment rate was 4.2%. The next JOLTS release, covering October, is scheduled for December 1, while the October employment report is due Friday, November 6.
