Employers sharply increased the number of positions they were looking to fill and cut layoffs to the lowest level in over a year in September, while workers felt increasingly emboldened to quit their jobs for better work.

U.S. job openings unexpectedly rose in September to 7.52 million from a revised 7.19 million in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday. That was higher than all estimates in the Econoday survey.

Layoffs fell to the lowest level since March of 2025 while the share of employees voluntarily leaving their jobs rse to 2.1 percent, the highest in over a year.

Combined, the numbers indicate a surging demand for workers as the economy headed into the fourth quarter.

The data come from the Labor Department’s monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS.