WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. job openings unexpectedly increased in November, but a softening in hiring pointed to a slowing labor market.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, rose 259,000 to 8.098 million by the last day of November, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday.

Data for October was revised higher to show 7.839 million vacancies instead of the previously reported 7.744 million. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 7.70 million unfilled positions. The labor market is being supported by low levels of layoffs, but employers are hesitant to add more workers after a hiring spree during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Hires dropped 125,000 to 5.269 million in November. Layoffs were little changed at 1.765 million.

Job growth likely slowed in December as the boost from the end of disruptions from hurricanes and strikes by factory workers at Boeing and another aerospace company faded.

Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 160,000 jobs in December after surging by 227,000 in November, a Reuters survey showed. The unemployment rate is forecast unchanged at 4.2%.

The Federal Reserve last month delivered a third consecutive interest rate cut, lowering its benchmark overnight interest rate by 25 basis points to the 4.25%-4.50% range.

The U.S. central bank, however, projected only two quarter point reductions in borrowing costs this year compared to the four it had forecast in September, acknowledging the resilience of the jobs market and economy.