The U.S. Department of Labor announced on the 18th (local time) that the number of new jobless claims last week (from the 7th to the 13th) was tallied at 212,000, the same as a week earlier. This falls short of the forecast of 215,000.
The number of jobless claims remains low, suggesting a solid labor market. Since September last year, the number of new jobless claims has been fluctuating at the pre-pandemic level of the low 200,000s, between 194,000 and 225,000. The number of continuing jobless claims, those who have applied for unemployment benefits for at least two weeks, increased by 2,000 from a week earlier to 1,812,000 from March 31 to April 6.
The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) is monitoring employment-related indicators, believing that an overheated labor market could lead to entrenched inflation. The financial market initially expected the first rate cut to occur in March, but the timing has been delayed as labor market and inflation indicators continue to rise. Some even suggest that there may not be any interest rate cuts this year.
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