Job openings hold strong despite rate hikes; manufacturing in contraction

According to the Labor Department, there was high demand for employment in November as companies looked for workers to fill positions.

According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for the month of November, there were 10.46 million vacancies, down from 10.67 million in October but still above the 10 million forecast by FactSet. The labor market is closely watched by the Federal Reserve.

Demand for workers is still high despite the Fed's efforts to cool the economy and bring down inflation.

The US manufacturing sector contracted for the second month in a row. The percentage of companies showing expansion was represented by the ISM Manufacturing Index. That was within the range of the estimate from the company. The reading below 50% is indicative of contraction.

There was a decrease in hiring and an increase in layoffs in the report. The report didn't show much indication of labor market weakness.

The rate of quits went up by one tenth of a percentage point, which is indicative of worker confidence that they can leave their jobs and find other employment.

There were more open positions than workers.

The ISM report shows that the labor market for manufacturing is good. The jobs index increased 3 points. The prices index fell to 39.4, a drop of 3.6 points.

The Labor Department's non-farm payrolls report is expected to show a gain of 200,000 jobs.