In October, the nation’s available jobs unexpectedly rose to 11 million, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Wednesday.
Even though that was short of the 11.1 million high from July, it was still far more than the 10.4 million economists had predicted, which would have marked a small decrease from the prior month. Instead, job openings rose by more than 400,000.
Leisure and hospitality, particularly hotels and food services, registered by far the biggest increase in available jobs.
Meanwhile, hires stood at 6.5 million in October, underlining that the worker shortage problem is still alive and kicking.
The number of US workers who quit their job decreased by more than 200,000 that month to 4.2 million, down from a record high in September.
The number of layoffs was more or less unchanged at 1.4 million.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
