JOB OPENINGS DIP, EXCEED NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED

WASHINGTON» The number of jobs posted by U.S. employers declined slightly in September but still exceeded the number of unemployed Americans and remained near a two-decade high.

The department said job openings declined 4 percent to roughly 7 million, still close to the highest levels on records dating to December 2000. The number of openings far exceeded the roughly 6 million people who were unemployed in September.

The number of available jobs, in fact, has topped the number of unemployed for six consecutive months.

Steadily strong hiring has lowered the U.S. unemployment rate to a nearly five-decade low of 3.7 percent.

And wages have begun picking up. Average hourly pay rose 3.1 percent in October from a year earlier, the fastest year-over-year gain since 2009, the year the Great Recession ended.

Duncan Hines recalling boxes of cake mix.

Duncan Hines is recalling 2.4 million boxes of cake mix because of a link to salmonella.

The recall affects Classic White, Classic Butter Golden, Signature Confetti and Classic Yellow varieties of cake mix, according to Conagra Brands, Duncan Hines’ parent company. The affected boxes have expiration dates between March 7-13, 2019.

U.S. probing whether GM’s SUV recall included enough vehicles. DETROIT»

The U.S. government is investigating whether General Motors should expand a 2016 windshield wiper recall to include 1.7 million more SUVs.

The government wants to know if a recall of 368,000 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain compact SUVs from the 2013 year should include more vehicles from 2010 to 2016.

U.K.’s May: I won’t agree on a Brexit deal “at any cost.”

LONDON» British Prime Minister Theresa May said Tuesday that she wouldn’t agree to a Brexit deal with the European Union “at any cost,” as the two sides remained deadlocked on the issue of the Irish border.

The two sides are working on a proposed solution involving a common customs arrangement for the U.K. and the EU. But May faces pressure from proBrexit Cabinet members not to agree to a solution that binds Great Britain to EU trade rules indefinitely after it leaves the bloc in March.