GET DAILY REPORT FREE
The number of job postings in the United States rebounded in October from a 3 1/2 year low in September, a sign that businesses are still seeking workers even though hiring has cooled.
Openings rose 5% to 7.7 million from 7.4 million in September, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The increase suggests that job gains could pick up in the coming months. Still, the latest figure is down significantly from 8.7 million job postings a year ago.
Last month, job openings rose sharply in professional and business services, a category that includes engineers, managers, and accountants, as well as in the restaurant and hotel and information technology industries.
The number of people quitting their jobs rose in October, a sign of confidence in the job market. And layoffs tumbled to just 1.6 million—below the lowest figures in the two decades that preceded the 2020 pandemic.
Taken as a whole, Tuesday’s figures suggest that the job market might be stabilizing at a modest level, with hiring moderate but layoffs uncommonly low. The unemployment rate is at a low 4.1%, even though job gains slowed sharply in October, according to the monthly jobs report. The slowdown in job growth last month reflected mainly the impact of hurricanes and a strike at Boeing.
