Openings rose 5 percent to 7.7 million from 7.4 million in September, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. The increase suggests that job gains could pick up in the coming months. 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, managers and accountants, as well as in the restaurant and hotel, and information technology industries.
