• JOLTS Job Openings were little changed slightly below 9 million in January.
• US Dollar Index stays deep in red at around 103.50.

The number of job openings on the last business day of January stood at 8.86 million, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) on Wednesday. This reading followed 8.88 million (revised from 9.02 million) openings in December and came in slightly below the market expectation of 8.9 million.

"Over the month, the number of hires and total separations were little changed at 5.7 million and 5.3 million, respectively," the BLS noted in its press release. "Within separations, quits (3.4 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.6 million) changed little."

Market reaction

This report failed to trigger a noticeable market reaction. At the time of press, the US Dollar Index was down 0.3% on the day at 103.45.