US job openings climb to 7.52 million in September

American employers put up 7.52 million job openings in September, up from a revised 7.19 million the month before, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. That is a gain of roughly 330,000 openings. The openings rate settled at 4.5%.

Hiring barely budged. The JOLTS survey counted 5.4 million hires, little changed from the prior month, with a hires rate of 4.5%. Separations held at 5.3 million, a 3.3% rate, and the quits rate came in at 2.1% — workers still not rushing for the exits.

The same morning brought a second dose of data: the US Census Bureau said new orders for manufactured goods rose 1.8% in September, an increase of $12.2 billion, putting the total at $677.2 billion. That beat what analysts had penciled in. Shipments gained 1.3%, up $8.8 billion to $668.5 billion, while unfilled orders thickened by 0.9%, or $13.8 billion, to $1.62 trillion.

Inventories climbed 0.4%, or $3.7 billion, to $976 billion, dropping the inventories-to-shipments ratio to 1.46. Elsewhere on the inflation watch, Switzerland's annual rate hit 1.5% in October, up from 1% in September, Turkey's ticked up to 29.77% from 29.73%, and South Korea's eased to 2.8%.

Take the JOLTS snapshot with the broader backdrop and the picture is a labor market that is still offering plenty of doors, even if fewer people are walking through them. The quits rate is the tell: when workers stop hopping jobs, they are not betting on something better being out there.