US job vacancies have unexpectedly jumped in the past month, suggesting that labor demand remains strong despite the Those of the Federal Reserve Efforts to cool inflation and ease historically tight labor markets.

What happened: Vacancies rose to 10.7 million in September Data the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Tuesday. The number was above average, at 9.85 million, according to economists’ estimates.

The number of new hires fell to 6.1 million last month, while the total number of separations fell to 5.7 million. Within the breakups, terminations were largely unchanged at 4.1 million, and layoffs and layoffs fell to 1.3 million.

Why it matters: The Federal Reserve will be watching closely as it attempts to bring inflation down to its highest level in more than 40 years.

The Fed’s continued rate hikes are expected to eventually slow the economy and spur layoffs, but the labor market remains resilient.

Last week, US initial jobless claims Ticked slightly higher, but was below economists’ estimates and still remains near historically low levels.

That The US Bureau of Economic Analysis also released an advance estimate for the third quarter Gross domestic product (GDP) last week shows that US economic growth has recovered in the last quarter.

Tuesday’s data, which showed an unexpected rise in job vacancies over the past month, signals another 0.75% rate hike is likely on Wednesday.

In September, the Fed raised its policy rate by 0.75% for the third time in a row and indicated that this will be the case raise interest rates further.

If the Fed turns around and hikes rates by less than 0.75% on Wednesday, it could be a reason for a market rally. Even if some expect it “pivot language” At the FOMC meeting, a strong majority expects another rate hike of 0.75%.

Related link: Analyst expects the S&P 500 to rise over 10% tomorrow if the Fed takes these 2 actions

A decision on rates is due Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET. The Fed’s final meeting of the year is…