Labor
JOLTS — September 2026
Released November 3, 2026 · 10:00 AM ET · Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The read · narrated
The read
Two words keep getting used for the job market: strong, and stable. For the Fed, they’re not the same. Today’s job openings report can tell them apart.
In a strong labor market, workers move. They quit, get hired elsewhere, and get raises doing it. That pushes wages, and wages feed the prices the Fed is fighting. A stable market holds its jobs without much movement.
September made the strong case. Quits rose to two point one percent — the highest since June of last year. Openings, seven and a half million. Hiring, three point four percent. Layoffs, one percent.
Last month we said watch the layoff line, and showed you August at one point six four million, the fewest since March of last year. It was revised up to one point seven seven. September landed at one point six four again.
Now look at where the movement happened. Restaurants and hotels. Six of every ten new quits came from there — and more than all of the hiring gain. Everywhere else, hiring dipped.
One month is noisy, so read three. Hiring, July through September: five point two seven million a month. April through June: the same.
Hold it against twenty nineteen, when the Fed called the labor market strong. Openings match it. Layoffs are lower. But the movement isn’t there: hiring three point four against three point nine, quits two point one against two point three. And just over one opening per unemployed person, against one point two.
As our PCE read noted, the Fed upgraded the economy to strong. Its jobs sentence stayed put: job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little. That’s stable.
The honest other half: outside restaurants and hotels, quits rose too, to the most since March of last year. Still below twenty nineteen. And that’s the line where strong shows up first.
So, does this report defend strong? On the surface, it’s the best case in months. Underneath, it’s stable — one sector churning, hiring flat, movement below twenty nineteen. Our claims read’s answer holds: labor gives the Fed no reason to ease, and no pressure to tighten.
Watch quits outside restaurants and hotels. October’s jobs report lands Friday. The next openings report, December first.
| Measure | Latest | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Quits | 3.37M · 2.1% · September | ▲ rate highest since June 2025; mostly restaurants and hotels |
| Job openings | 7.52M · September | ▲ highest since May; hiring flat on three months |
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, September 2026, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, released November 3, 2026. All figures are seasonally adjusted, from the BLS public data API; the headline series were checked against their FRED mirrors. The print. Job openings 7,523,000 (rate 4.5%); hires 5,402,000 (3.4%); total separations 5,319,000 (3.3%); quits 3,365,000 (2.1%); layoffs and discharges 1,641,000 (1.0%). The agency describes openings, hires, separations and layoffs as little changed; quits rose in number while the rate was little changed. Records. The quits rate was last at or above 2.1% in June 2025; layoffs and discharges were last at or below 1,641,000 in March 2025; openings were last at or above 7,523,000 in May 2026. Revisions. Our September 29 read carried August layoffs and discharges at 1,641,000, “the fewest since March 2025.” August is now 1,768,000 (1.1%), revised up 127,000. The other August lines: openings 7,079,000 to 7,190,000; hires 5,192,000 to 5,271,000; separations 5,070,000 to 5,175,000; quits 3,066,000 to 3,044,000. Where September moved. Change from August, total nonfarm: quits +321,000, of which accommodation and food services +197,000 (61%) and all other industries +124,000; hires +131,000, of which accommodation and food services +158,000 and all other industries −27,000. Quits outside accommodation and food services were 2,646,000, the most since March 2025, against a 2019 average of 2,824,000. Three months at a time. Hires averaged 5,273,000 a month in July–September and 5,266,000 in April–June. Against 2019. 2019 monthly averages: openings rate 4.5%, hires rate 3.9%, quits rate 2.3%, layoffs and discharges rate 1.2%. Job openings per unemployed person (unemployment level from the Current Population Survey, 7,109,000 in September): 1.06, against a 2019 average of 1.19. The Fed’s language. The Federal Open Market Committee’s October 30, 2019 statement said “the labor market remains strong.” Its October 28, 2026 statement said “Economic activity is expanding at a strong pace” and “Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little.” The Committee next decides on December 9. October’s Employment Situation is scheduled for November 6; the next JOLTS release, for October, for December 1.