September Job Openings Reach the Lowest Level Since 2021

 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released its September Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary. The report revealed that there were 7.44 million job openings in September, a 418,000 decrease from a downwardly revised 7.86 million in August. The figure fell short of Bloomberg economists’ expectations of 8 million openings and the lowest level of openings since January 2021.

 

The number of job openings indicates the strength of the labor market and the broader economy. For the month, most of the decline in vacancies was in the Southern region, suggesting that Hurricanes Helene and Milton impacted the demand for labor. While Goldman Sachs economists expected hurricane activity to impact 40,000-50,000 jobs in that region, Oxford Economics estimated that it likely reduced employment by about 70,000. Hurricane Helene hit well before the BLS’ monthly survey, and Milton struck during the week of the survey.

 

In September, employee hires rose by 123,000 (to 5.558 million), and layoffs increased by 165,000 (to 1.833 million). Conversely, employee quits dropped, shifting the quit rate from 2% in August to 1.9% in September, which is the lowest level since June 2020. Employee quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. As such, the quit rate serves as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Employer Takeaways

 

The data suggests that workers’ confidence in finding a new job after quitting is waning. The labor market is losing some momentum but not crashing.

 

Organizations will likely continue to have difficulties attracting and retaining workers, resulting in increased labor costs as they raise wages and offer competitive benefits to attract talent. Employers should continue to monitor employment trends, specifically to see if job openings in the South rebound or continue a downward trend.

 

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