Key Takeaways

Even as hurricanes disrupted the job market in October, some important aspects were improving for workers as job openings increased and layoffs slowed down.

That's according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday, which showed that the number of job openings available increased to 7.7 million in October from 7.4 million the month prior. It was also more than the 7.5 million forecasters had expected, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal .

Layoffs, already near historic lows, declined to 1.6 million from 1.8 million, and more people quit their jobs, suggesting they were confident of finding higher wages elsewhere.

The monthly JOLTS report adds detail to job creation statistics previously reported in the widely reported nonfarm payrolls report. The report showed the economy created only 12,000 jobs that month , the lowest level since December 2020, largely due to the impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Despite the encouraging uptick in job openings and downshift in layoffs, there was at least one sign of weakness: only 5.3 million people were hired, down from 5.6 million in September.

The mixed report gave economists the impression that the labor market isn't booming like it was last year but is still staying afloat.

"Although the labor market has cooled during the course of the year, it isn't in a worrisome spot at this point," Katherine Judge, an economist at CIBC, wrote in a commentary.

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