The number of unemployed Americans is the lowest in a year and a half. In the US labor market, the strongest recovery in three months occurred when applications for unemployment benefits fell significantly.
Their number decreased by 38,000 to 326,000 in the week ending October 2. That’s according to current U.S. Department of Labor data. Analysts had calculated the number of applications for unemployment benefits at 348,000, so the result is 22,000 better. At the turn of September and October, the number of applications for unemployment benefits fell by the lowest since June this year.
It is precisely developments in the labour market that have been closely watched in recent weeks, especially by the US central bank. It aims to reduce unemployment to the level seen before the coronavirus crisis, but it must also monitor the development of inflation, which has reached its highest levels in many years.
But US central bankers have so far argued that inflation is only a temporary phenomenon, and that monetary policy will remain loose until the number of unemployed begins to decline significantly. So, after the October figures, it will be interesting to see how the Federal Reserve reacts to the situation.
