WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. job openings increased in January, but hiring was lackluster, consistent with a stable labor market.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, rose by 396,000 to 6.946 million by the last day of January, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 6.70 million unfilled jobs. The job openings rate increased to 4.2% from 4.0% in December.

The BLS revised JOLTS data for 2025, which showed downward revisions for nearly every month, with the exception of December. The annual average job openings level was 7.1 million, a decline of 571,000 from 2024. The annual average job openings rate was 4.3% compared to 4.6% in 2024.

Hiring advanced by only 22,000 positions to 5.294 million in January. The hires rate was unchanged at 3.3%. The hires level fell 1.5 million to 63.0 million in 2025. 

Layoffs and discharges dropped 35,000 to 1.631 million in January, pulling the rate down to 1.0% from 1.1% in December. Layoffs and discharges, however, increased 1.2 million to 21.2 million last year.