Dec. 9 (UPI) — Job openings inched up slightly in October, despite fears of shrinkage.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its government shutdown-delayed October Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary Tuesday, showing a small uptick in job openings that month.
But the job market isn’t rosy quite yet. Hiring stalled, layoffs increased and employees did not quit their jobs. The voluntary quits rate was at a five-year low.
The report also includes some data from September, which hadn’t been released because of the government shutdown from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12. The October data also was affected by the agency’s inability to collect data during the month.
At the end of October, there were about 7.67 million job openings in the United States, which is a slight raise from 7.66 million in September and 7.23 million in August, the report said.
In October, the number and rate of total separations (quits, layoffs, firings) were little changed at 5.1 million and 3.2%. The number of total separations decreased in health care and social assistance by 111,000 and in the federal government by 34,000.
The quits were at 2.9 million and 1.8%, which was down by 276,000 over the year. A drop in quits can indicate a lack of confidence in the job market.
The Federal Reserve is expected to release its decision on interest rates on Wednesday.
