U.S. job openings fell slightly at the beginning of the year, but remain historically high despite an aggressive campaign by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates and cool the labor market. 

The Labor Department said Wednesday that there were more than 10.8 million job openings in January, a declined from the upwardly revised 11.2 million openings reported in the previous month. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected openings to fall to 10.5 million. 

The number of available jobs has now topped 10 million for 15 consecutive months; before the pandemic began in February 2020, the highest on record was 7.7 million. There are roughly 1.7 jobs per unemployed American. 

The Federal Reserve closely watches these figures as it tries to gauge labor market tightness and wrestle inflation under control. The stronger-than-expected figure indicates that demand for employees still far outpaces the supply of available workers.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.