Job openings ticked slightly higher in October, surpassing economists’ expectations, though layoffs increased, government data released Tuesday showed.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed 7.7 million jobs open at the end of October, was hotly anticipated by market watchers and economists looking for signs of whether the labor market is further deteriorating or locked in a cycle of low hiring and low firing. Economists polled by Bloomberg had projected 7.12 million openings for the month.
The public hadn’t received an official read on job openings and layoffs from the government since August’s data indicated a modest increase in openings, along with a decrease in hirings from the month prior. September’s data, which was delayed by the government shutdown and also released Tuesday, showed approximately 7.7 million openings for the month.
Layoffs rose across both months — reaching 1.85 million in October, the highest since January 2023. Hires also decreased between September and October, as did the quits rate, viewed as a sign of workers’ deteriorating confidence.
EY Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco wrote on X, “US labor market is weakening,” following the release Tuesday, noting that hiring is at the third-lowest level since Covid.
Guy Berger, workforce economist and senior fellow at the Burning Glass Institute, also pointed to October’s hiring rate of 3.2%, writing on X, “It’s a really hard time to find a job.”
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Private statistics flashed warning signs that October’s market may have been softer. The global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, for example, said this was the worst October for planned layoffs since 2003, though the private payroll processor ADP showed a slight boost in hiring.
Recent data has been more mixed, suggesting the labor market remains frozen but isn’t collapsing. A more up-to-date picture of the labor market will be posted next Tuesday, when the federal government releases the unemployment rate and payroll changes for November.
Emma Ockerman is a reporter covering the economy and labor for Yahoo Finance. You can reach her at emma.ockerman@yahooinc.com.
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