Job openings increased faster than expected in October, keeping the Fed on track to cut interest rates this week, even as layoffs increased and hiring slowed.

Job opportunities didn’t shrink as expected in October, but hiring continued to stall and layoffs increased in a month when the US government was shut down and hundreds of thousands of federal workers ...

US job openings picked up in October to the highest level in five months, though less hiring and more layoffs pointed to a continued slowdown in the labor market.