Job openings rise, but hirings decline in September

WASHINGTON — American employers advertised slightly more jobs in September but hired fewer people as the U.S. economy struggles to recover from spring’s coronavirus collapse.

Job postings rose to to 6.44 million in September, up from 6.35 million in August, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Employers hired 5.87 million workers, down from 5.95 million. Firings and layoffs dropped to 1.33 million in September from 1.53 million in August — even though the federal government dismissed thousands of temporary census workers.

Job vacancies increased in transportation and warehousing, finance, health care and accommodation and food services.

A Bloomberg survey of economists called for 6.5 million vacancies. Openings that involve workers recalled from layoffs or positions that are only offered internally are not counted in the figure.

Some 3 million workers quit their jobs in September, the most since February, pushing the resignation rate up to 2.1% from 2%.

The increase in resignations reflected more people leaving jobs in the the accommodation and food-services industry, construction and professional and business services. The resignation rate matches July as the highest since before the pandemic.

The U.S. labor market has rebounded gradually from last spring’s economic shutdown.

The job openings and labor turnover data lags the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report, which showed last week that the labor market added 638,000 jobs in October, topping estimates but still at the slowest pace in six months. The unemployment rate dropped sharply in October to 6.9%, from 7.9% in September.

The economy is still 10 million jobs short of what it had in February before the outbreak slammed the economy, forcing businesses to close at least temporarily. Americans, and their wallets,

largely remained home-bound in large areas of the country.

A resurgence in coronavirus cases as cold weather approaches could stall the recovery, as could Congress’ failure to pass another aid package on top of a $2 trillion rescue package in March.

“The fact that there are any help-wanted signs posted at all is remarkable given the severity and depth of this economic downturn,” Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at the financial firm MUFG, said in a research note. “Happy days aren’t here again for jobless workers but the labor market is slowly healing day by day.”

Competition among those looking for work remains elevated, with 12.6 million Americans jobless in September, leaving about two unemployed workers vying for every job opening during the month. That stands in contrast to a two-year trend before the pandemic during which job vacancies exceeded the number of unemployed.