Investing.com - The number of job openings in the U.S. rose more than expected in September, boosting optimism over the strength of the labor market and supporting the case for a U.S. rate hike, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Labor Department said that the number of job openings, excluding the farming industry, increased to 5.53 million in September from 5.37 million a month earlier. Analysts had expected the number of job openings to hold steady at 5.37 million.
The report has garnered more attention lately, as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen often cites the survey when assessing the state of the labor market.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0784 from around 1.0782 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5226 from 1.5227 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 122.78 compared to 122.79 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 98.78, compared to 98.79 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were broadly lower after the open. The Dow 30 shed 0.95%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.5%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,086.30 a troy ounce, compared to $1,086.40 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $42.39 a barrel from $42.48 earlier.