Robust US jobs data has bolstered the case for another supersized interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve on Thursday morning (AEDT), and struck a fresh blow to hopes that the central bank is preparing to slow the pace of monetary tightening.

The number of American job openings unexpectedly rose to 10.7 million in September from 10.3 million a month earlier, the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed. Economists had been anticipating a fall to around 9.8 million.