The Labor Department released a report on Wednesday showing job openings in the U.S. edged down from an upwardly revised level in the month of November.
The report said job openings dipped to 8.79 million in November from an upwardly revised 8.85 million in October.
Economists had expected job openings to rise to 8.85 million from the 8.73 million originally reported for the previous month.
The Labor Department said the number of hires and total separations decreased to 5.5 million and 5.3 million, respectively.
Within separations, quits edged down to 3.5 million, while layoffs and discharges were little changed at 1.5 million.
