US Job Openings Surge to 7.52 Million in September, Factory Orders Also Beat Forecasts

The US labor market showed renewed strength in September as job openings climbed to 7.523 million, well above the 7.164 million consensus forecast and up sharply from an upwardly revised 7.190 million in August. The job openings rate rose to 4.5% from 4.3%, while voluntary quits jumped to 3.365 million, pushing the quits rate to 2.1% from 1.9%, a sign that workers feel confident enough to leave their jobs. Layoffs fell to 1.641 million from a revised 1.768 million in August, with the layoff rate holding at 1.0%.

Separate data released at the same time showed US factory orders rising 1.8% in September, beating the 1.2% estimate and accelerating sharply from August's upwardly revised 0.3% gain. The advance was broad-based: orders excluding transportation rose 1.3%, orders excluding defense surged 2.0%, and nondurables climbed 1.8%. Durable goods orders were revised up to 1.9% from the initial 1.8% reading, core capital goods orders were nudged higher to 0.6%, and shipments increased 1.2%. The inventories-to-shipments ratio ticked down slightly to 1.46 months from 1.47 in August, suggesting demand is absorbing supply.