WASHINGTON US job openings increased moderately in October while layoffs declined, suggesting the labour market continued to slow in an orderly fashion.

Job openings, a measure of labour demand, had risen 372,000 to 7.744 million by the last day of October, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday.

Data for September was revised lower to show 7.372 million unfilled positions instead of the previously reported 7.443 million. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 7.475 million vacancies. Hires fell 269,000 to 5.313 million. Layoffs decreased 169,000 to 1.633 million.

Hurricanes and strikes distorted the labour market in October. With rebuilding underway in the areas devastated by the storms and the strikes at Boeing and another aerospace company having ended, a sharp acceleration in job growth is anticipated in November.

A Reuters survey of economists estimated payrolls increased by 200,000 jobs last month after rising by only 12,000 in October, the fewest since December 2020. The unemployment rate is forecast to tick up to 4.2% from 4.1% in October.

The closely watched employment report for November, which is due to be released on Friday, is among the critical pieces of data that could determine whether the Federal Reserve delivers a third consecutive interest rate cut this month amid lack of progress in lowering inflation back to the US central bank's 2% target.

  - Reuters