(CNN) — 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 were furloughed, according to new data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There were an estimated 7.67 million US jobs available at the end of October, a slight increase from 7.66 million in September and 7.23 million in August (which was last available data prior to the federal shutdown), according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

Still, despite the very slight pickup in posted jobs, Tuesday’s report showed further weakening across the US labor market: Hiring activity slipped, layoffs moved higher and fewer people quit their jobs.

The BLS’ JO

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