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The number of Americans filing for for unemployment benefits last week jumped to its highest level in a year, which analysts are saying is more likely a result of Hurricane Helene and the Boeing machinist strike than a broader softening in the labour market. The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for jobless claims jumped by by 33,000 to 258,000 for the week of October 3. That's the most since August 5, 2023 and well above the 229,000 analysts were expecting. Analysts highlighted big jumps in jobless benefit applications last week across states that were most affected by Hurricane Helene, including Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Claims will likely continue to be elevated in states affected by Helene and Hurricane Milton as well as the Boeing strike until it is resolved, said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist of Oxford Economics. We think, though, that the Fed will view these impacts as temporary and still expect it to lower rates by (
Hiring by America's employers picked up a bit in August from July's sluggish pace, and the unemployment rate dipped for the first time since March in a sign that the job market may be cooling but remains sturdy. Employers added 142,000 jobs last month, up from a scant 89,000 in July, the Labour Department said on Friday. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.2 per cent from 4.3 per cent in July, which had been the highest level in nearly three years. Collectively, Friday's figures depict a job market slowing under the pressure of high interest rates but still growing. Many employers are responding to the resilience of consumers, who stepped up their spending in July, even after adjusting for inflation. With inflation falling steadily back to the Federal Reserve's 2 per cent target, the Fed is preparing to cut its key interest rate from a 23-year high. Friday's mixed report on the job market raises the question of how large a cut the Fed will announce after it meets September 17-18.
US job openings slipped in May but remained at levels high enough to illustrate that the American labour market remains resilient in the face of sharply higher interest rates. Employers posted 9.8 million job vacancies, down from 10.3 million in April, the Labour Department said on Thursday. But layoffs fell slightly, and more Americans quit their jobs a sign they were confident they could find better pay or working conditions elsewhere. Monthly job openings remain high by historic standards they had never hit 8 million before 2021 despite the Federal Reserve's aggressive campaign to cool the American labour market and slow the economy to combat inflation that last year hit four-decade highs. The Fed has hiked its benchmark short-term interest rate 10 times since March 2022. The higher borrowing costs have had an impact: Economic growth has slowed, and monthly job openings are down from their March 2022 peak of 12 million, highest on record. Inflation is down, too: Consumer pr