ECONOMY
US Unemployment Claims Rise Slightly, But Remain Relatively Low
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New applications for unemployment increased slightly in the week ending on Oct. 21, after falling the week before to their lowest level in more than eight months, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Jobless claims rose to 210,000, up 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the agency said. The four-week moving average for claims rose by 1,250 to 207,500.
In total, 1.79 million people collected unemployment benefits in the week that ended Oct. 14, an increase of about 63,000 from the previous week, the agency said.
The Federal Reserve last month decided to hold interest rates steady after raising rates 11 times since March of last year, citing progress in its battle against inflation, despite a resilient job market. The central bank maintained the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%.
But speaking at the Economic Club of New York last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said inflation is still too high, indicating another rate hike could be coming after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting this month.
“Additional evidence of persistently above-trend growth, or that tightness in the labor market is no longer easing, could put further progress on inflation at risk and could warrant further tightening of monetary policy,” he said.
Ahead of the Fed’s September meeting, the Bureau of Labor Statistics in August reported consumer prices were up 3.7% year-over-year, above the Fed’s target but down from the 2022 peak of 9.1%.
Nevertheless, layoffs remain low. U.S. employers added 336,000 jobs in September, a substantial increase over the 187,000 jobs added in August, and unemployment remains a relatively low 3.8%. The Labor Department issues the September jobs report on Friday.
The FOMC is scheduled to meet again on Oct. 31, and will be looking at consumer prices and jobs data to determine whether further rate hikes are needed to combat inflation.
“We want to see convincing evidence really that we have reached the appropriate level, and were seeing progress and we welcome that. But, you know, we need to see more progress before well be willing to reach that conclusion,” Powell said at a press conference announcing September decision.
TMX contributed to this article.
