U.S. job openings fell in November by less than forecast, indicating labor demand remained relatively steady before the resurgent virus began to weigh on employment.

The number of available positions eased to 6.53 million from a revised 6.63 million in October, according to the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, released Tuesday. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for 6.45 million vacancies. The figure doesn’t include openings involving workers recalled from layoffs or positions only offered internally.