U.S. hiring improved in September, but employers still tread carefully

By Nathan Brooks

The U.S. government’s September labor report showed 7.52 million job openings, a four-month high, and hiring at a five-month high of 5.4 million. Released Tuesday with a one-month lag, the report showed openings up from 7.19 million in August and hiring up from 5.27 million.

The U.S. government report called the improvement mild and unlikely to mark the start of a broader upturn. The report broke down the gains this way:

• State and local government openings rose by 104,000, accounting for one-third of the overall increase, mostly in education as schools resumed.
• White-collar professional openings increased by 106,000.
• Manufacturing and construction delivered the only other notable gains. The report said both industries had benefited from a massive boom in artificial intelligence.

New job listings had reached a record 12.3 million in 2022 as the United States recovered from the pandemic, according to the report. They had remained surprisingly weak for the past three years, making September’s increase less convincing as the start of a sustained hiring cycle.

The U.S. government report offered a more encouraging signal in resignations. The number of people who quit rose to 3.18 million in September from 2.88 million in August, topping 3 million for only the second time in 2026.

The report put the private-sector quits rate at 2.3%, up from 2.1% and the highest since the end of 2025. It linked the increase to workers who expect other jobs to be available and believe they can obtain higher pay, pointing to more confidence and negotiating leverage.

The report put private-sector layoffs at a 19-month low of 1.56 million. That combination of limited hiring and restrained firing leaves the U.S. labor market in an unusual position: employers add few workers, but they also remove relatively few.

Matthew Martin, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said: “The labor market remains tough for many.” He added: “Employers are reticent or unwilling to let go of employees, even if they are hiring less.”

Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected the U.S. to add a scanty 59,000 jobs in October. The government’s jobs report arrives Friday morning. The modest forecast offered little evidence of a broad labor-market acceleration.

The report said businesses remain reluctant to hire partly because they want to manage costs. High inflation has forced companies to pay substantially more for supplies, while resistant customers make it difficult to pass those increases on.

What does this change for job seekers?

It improves the odds at the margin. Candidates face more openings, a higher quits rate and more potential leverage to seek higher pay, particularly where openings rose in professional work, manufacturing, construction and education. September’s gains do not amount to a broad flood of jobs: listings have stayed weak for three years, layoffs remain near a 19-month low, and economists expect only 59,000 new jobs in October.

The practical read is more negotiating room, not a wholesale shift in employer demand. Workers with credible offers may be able to ask for more, while broader job searches still face a thin and slow-moving pipeline.

Tuesday trading reflected that tension. The Dow Jones industrials fell while the S&P 500 rose as investors awaited the results of the 2026 congressional elections.

Friday’s jobs report and the durability of September’s gains will show whether the improvement can broaden. Until then, the hiring recovery remains modest, uneven and constrained by employers’ cost calculations.