On Wednesday, the Labor Department reported that employment demand remained high in November, as companies continue to search for workers to hire despite a looming recession.

The November Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed there were 10.46 million available job openings, which was down fractionally from October’s reading, but above the FactSet forecast of 10 million. The Federal Reserve watches the JOLTs surveys closely for any signs of slack in the labor market.

Job openings came in at 6.4% of the labor force, indicating there remains a high demand for workers, despite Federal Reserve efforts to cool the economy and reduce inflation, which has been partly driven by rising wages.

In another report released Wednesday, it was revealed the US manufacturing sector had contracted for the second month in a row. The December ISM Manufacturing Index came in at 48.4%, which represented the percentage of all companies which reported they were expanding. A reading below 50% indicates the sector is contracting overall. The reading was roughly in line with the Dow Jones estimate of 48.5%.

The JOLTS report showed there was a small decrease in hiring and a small increase in layoffs. However the report failed to show the type of substantial softening of the labor market the Federal Reserve would be looking for.

The quits level rose by 126,000, which raised the rate one tenth of a percentage to 2.7%, a measure of the fact workers remain confident they can leave their job and still locate new employment.

Job openings outnumbered available workers by roughly 1.7 to 1.

The ISM showed that the labor market in manufacturing remains particularly solid. The jobs index component was up 3 points to 51.4. Meanwhile the prices index, an inflation gauge, declined 3.6 points to 39.4.

Now eyes will turn to the Labor Department’s nonfarm payrolls report, due to come out later in the week. It is expected to show a gain of 200,000 jobs.