The number of job openings in September (ahead of the October jobs report this week) totaled 7.523mm which is up from 7.190mm in August. The hiring rate ticked up by one tenth to 3.4% from 3.3% while the quit rate rose to 2.1% from 1.9%.
Here is where the job openings rose that mostly drove the headline, State & Local govt (up 108k), Professional/Business services (up 106k), Information (up 25k), Construction (up 36k), Manufacturing (up 54k) and Transportation (up 25k).
Less job needs were seen in Financial Services (down 19k), Healthcare/Social Assistance (down 35k but just back to July level), Leisure/Hospitality (down 18k) with no change in Retail Trade.
Bottom line, while good to see the lift in job openings, it still keeps bouncing between 6.5mm and 7.5mm with a subdued hiring rate at the same time we know as measured by initial claims and from some of the staffing companies, firing’s remain historically low. Nothing market moving on this as we look to the October hiring data.
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