Job Openings Rose to 7.52 Million in September as Layoffs Stayed Low, but State and Local Government Made Up About a Third of the Gain

U.S. employers had more open jobs in September, the Daily Caller reports, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday.

The numbers. Job openings reached 7.523 million, up 333,000 from a revised 7.190 million in August. The openings rate rose to 4.5% from 4.3%. Hires rose by 131,000 to 5.402 million, a rate of 3.4%. Layoffs and discharges were little changed at about 1.6 million, a rate of 1.0%.

Quits. Voluntary quits rose to about 3.4 million from a revised 3.0 million, and the quits rate climbed to 2.1% from 1.9%. The Daily Caller says that suggests more workers were willing or able to leave their jobs.

Where the gain came from. State and local government openings rose by 108,000, roughly a third of the national increase, according to the BLS. The Daily Caller says the increase was also concentrated in construction and manufacturing. It notes federal openings are far below Biden-era levels after Trump moved to cut federal positions early in his second term.

A second reading. Breitbart's report on the same data, from John Carney, says openings beat every estimate in the Econoday survey and that layoffs fell to their lowest level since March 2025. It summarizes the numbers as "surging demand for workers." Breitbart also reports manufacturing openings rose to 584,000 in September from 530,000 in August, the highest since December 2023. Read Breitbart's report: https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2026/11/03/jolts-sept/

The caution. The Daily Caller says the report follows a weaker employment picture, with employers adding just 29,000 jobs in September, and that Americans still face elevated living costs.

What we could not check. We have not read the BLS release. The two outlets describe layoffs differently, one as little changed and one as the lowest in over a year, and we did not reconcile them.