U.S. job openings barely changed in October over the previous month as employers grappled with economic uncertainty.
The Labor Department released its report a month late due to the 43-day government shutdown that showed that employers posted 7.67 million openings in October, slightly up from 7.66 million in September, reported Reuters.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also showed that layoffs rose and the number of people quitting their jobs, which is seen as a sign of confidence in the labor market, dropped in October.
Jobs openings have dropped steadily since a record peak of 12.1 million in March 2022, following the Covid-19 lockdowns, but the job market has slowed down due to high interests rates set by the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023 to offset high inflation.
The Labor Department will issue job numbers for hiring and unemployment for November next Tuesday, 11 days later than originally scheduled.
The department will not release an unemployment rate for October because it could not calculate the number during the shutdown.
In an interview with Politico, published Tuesday, Trump gave his administration's economy an "A-plus-plus" rating.
