Us Employment

US unemployment benefit claims jump to 258,000, at highest level in a year

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 (

US hiring rebounds slightly, unemployment rate dips amid slowing job market

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 service sector rebounds in July, employment market also recovers

ISM's measure of services employment increased to 51.1 - growing for the first time since January - from 46.1 in June, second-largest in more than three years

US employment moderates along with wage growth; signals inflation slowdown

Payrolls in the world's largest economy are projected to have increased by about 190,000, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists ahead of Friday's report

US weekly jobless claims increase more than expected as labor market eases

The Fed last week left its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the current 5.25%-5.50% range, where it has been since July

Growth in US labour costs accelerates in first quarter amid rise in wages

The Employment Cost Index (ECI), the broadest measure of labor costs, increased 1.2% last quarter after rising by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said

Indian-American Sonali Korde sworn in as assistant to USAID administrator

From 2005 to 2013, Korde served as a senior technical advisor for the President's Malaria Initiative in USAID's Bureau for Global Health

US worker productivity strong in fourth quarter; weekly jobless claims rise

Nonfarm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, increased at a 3.2% annualized rate last quarter, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday

Apple returns to list of top US employers as other tech firms lose appeal

The best company to work for was management consultant Bain & Co., followed by chipmaker Nvidia Corp., whose products underpin the booming artificial intelligence field

Gold price slides as dollar, treasury yields rise after strong jobs data

Benchmark Treasury yields edged higher and the dollar index rose 0.4%, denting appeal for gold

US consumer likely to start cutting back, hurting economy and stocks

The finding is at odds with the optimism that's permeated US equity markets for most of the summer, as cooling inflation and low unemployment bolstered hopes for a so-called soft landing

US job openings dip to 9.8 million, showing resilience in labour market

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

Lululemon fires employees for trying to stop robbery, CEO defends decision

Calvin McDonald, the CEO of Lululemon, defended the firing of two employees who attempted to stop a robbery in one of the stores in May, stating that the employee code of conduct was broken

US job growth beats expectations in May; unemployment rate rises to 3.7%

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 339,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said in its closely watched employment report on Friday

US manufacturing dips for seventh straight month in May; employment rises

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Thursday that its manufacturing PMI fell to 46.9 last month from 47.1 in April

Google pauses green card applications from employees amid layoffs

Amid the layoffs come another bad news for employees, especially from India in the US, as Google has paused its Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) program

US jobs top forecasts, wages pick up in labor market despite Fed aggression

US employers added more jobs than expected in October while wages rose firmly, underscoring the resilience of the labor market despite the Federal Reserve's aggressive efforts to cool it down.

Desperate for workers, firms plan to hire people even with criminal records

Railroads have been struggling with service issues they say have been caused by worker shortages, and in september struck a labour deal to avoid a nationwide strike

US economy shrinks by 1.4% in Q1 amid Omicron variant surge

The latest data marks the economy's first contraction since the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the country in early 2020, Xinhua news agency reported

US added 431,000 jobs in March in sign of economic health

As the pandemic has eased, consumers have been broadening their spending beyond goods to services