The number of job postings in the United States rebounded in October from a 3 1/2 year low in September, a sign that businesses are still seeking workers even though hiring has cooled.

Openings rose 5% to 7.7 million from 7.4 million in September, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Still, the latest figure is down significantly from 8.7 million job postings a year ago.

Last month, job openings rose sharply in professional and business services, a category that includes engineers, tech employees and accountants, as well as in the restaurant and hotel and finance industries.

The pickup in job openings suggests that the job market could be stabilizing at a modest level. The unemployment rate is at a low 4.1%, even though job gains slowed sharply in October, according to the monthly jobs report. The slowdown reflected mainly the impact of hurricanes and a strike at Boeing.

Tuesday’s figures mean there are now 1.1 available jobs for each unemployed worker, a healthy figure. Before the pandemic there were usually more unemployed people than openings.

Still, the latest ratio is down from a peak of roughly two job openings per unemployed person two years ago. Businesses have pulled back from the hiring frenzy that occurred as the economy emerged from the pandemic recession.

Tuesday’s report, known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed that overall hiring slowed in October. Total hiring slipped to 5.3 million from 5.6 million, though that decline reflected hurricane-related disruptions.

The JOLTS report is separate from the monthly jobs figures, which will be released Friday. That report is forecast to show a net gain of nearly 210,000 jobs in November, up from an anemic 12,000 in October.

Tuesday’s report also showed that the number of Americans who quit their jobs rebounded in October to 3.4 million, after having reached a four-year low in September. An increase in quitting is a good sign for the economy, because it suggests that people are confident enough to search for new job opportunities.

The Federal Reserve is watching the jobs data closely. Any sign that hiring is sharply weakening could encourage Fed officials to cut their key interest rate more quickly, to try to bolster borrowing and spending and support the economy.

(AP)