Job openings and hiring edged higher in September, but it's still a 'low hire, low fire' market

Job openings and hiring changed little in September, the Labor Department's monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed, as the "low hire, low fire" labor market continued.

There were 7.5 million job openings in September, from a revised 7.2 million a month earlier, the report showed. The hiring rate improved slightly to 3.4%, up from 3.3% in September.

Layoffs were also little changed at 1.6 million, with 1% of workers losing their jobs. Voluntary quits ticked up slightly to 3.4 million, and the rate of quits rose slightly to 2.1%, from 1.9% in August.

The latest data suggest a continuation of a long labor market trend of slow hiring, but minimal layoffs. A fuller look at the job market will be released on Friday, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes its monthly payrolls report for October. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the US to have added 65,000 jobs last month.

Claire Boston is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.