U.S. hiring rebounded in October, with 531,000 jobs added
Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate fell to 4.6% last month, from 4.8% in September.
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October jobs report expected to show pickup in hiring
After two disappointing months of hiring, a key question overhanging Friday’s U.S. jobs report for October will be whether companies found more success this time in filling millions of open positions.
Unemployment claims drop to 269,000, another pandemic low
Overall, 2.1 million Americans were collecting unemployment checks the week of Oct. 23—down from 7.1 million a year earlier when the economy was still reeling from the coronavirus outbreak.
Fed pulls back economic aid in face of rising uncertainties
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed was sticking by its bedrock economic forecast. Yet, the nation’s leading economic figure acknowledged that it isn’t at all clear when or even whether things will play out the way he and other Fed officials hope.
Fed to start reining in economic aid as inflation risk rises
The Fed’s likely decision this week to taper its bond purchases comes as high inflation is bedeviling the U.S. economy for much longer than Federal Reserve Chair Powell and many other officials initially expected.
Survey: Americans sour on economy amid inflation woes
Just 35% of Americans now call the national economy good, while 65% call it poor, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
U.S. consumer spending up modest 0.6% amid high inflation
American consumers slowed their spending in September, a cautionary sign for an economy that remains in the grip of a pandemic and a prolonged bout of high inflation.
U.S. jobless claims drop to pandemic low of 281,000
In all, 2.2 million people were collecting unemployment checks the week of Oct. 16, down from 7.7 million a year earlier.
U.S. economy slowed to 2% growth rate last quarter in face of COVID
Consumer spending, which fuels about 70% of overall economic activity, slowed to an annual growth rate of just 1.6% after having surged at a 12% rate in the previous quarter.
Exacerbated by pandemic, child care crisis hampers economy
The absence of reliable and affordable child care limits which jobs people can accept, makes it harder to climb the corporate ladder and ultimately restricts the ability of the broader economy to grow.
Business economists less optimistic about next year’s growth
The slowdown has been attributed to a surge in cases from the delta variant over the summer and supply chain problems, which disrupted manufacturing output in many sectors, especially auto production and helped send consumer prices rising at the fastest pace in 13 years.
Cutoff of extra jobless aid spurs little influx of job seekers
Economists point to a range of factors that are likely keeping millions of former recipients of federal jobless aid from returning to the workforce. Many Americans in public-facing jobs still fear contracting COVID-19, for example. Some families lack child care.
U.S. unemployment claims fall to new pandemic low of 290,000
Unemployment claims are increasingly returning to normal, but many other aspects of the job market haven’t yet done so. Hiring has slowed in the past two months, even as companies and other employers have posted a near-record number of open jobs.
Fed survey finds economy facing supply-chain issues, other drags
In its latest survey of business conditions around the nation, the Fed said a majority of its 12 regions viewed consumer spending, the main driving force for the economy, as remaining positive despite the various speed bumps.
Consumer goods behemoth P&G warns retailers to expect higher prices
Procter & Gamble, the maker of Pampers diapers, Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste, said it’s raising prices on a range of goods as higher commodity and freight costs are set to take a bite out of its profits.
IMF warns economic recovery threatened by virus, inflation
The International Monetary Fund called Thursday for greater efforts from wealthy nations to boost COVID vaccination rates in poorer countries, while also urging the Federal Reserve and other central banks to respond quickly if current inflation pressures prove not to be transitory.
U.S. unemployment claims fall to lowest level since pandemic
Applications for jobless aid, which generally track the pace of layoffs, have fallen steadily since last spring as many businesses, struggling to fill jobs, have held onto their workers.
Fed officials: Bond purchases could end by middle of 2022
Such a move would mark the Fed’s first step back from the extraordinary efforts it has made to stimulate the economy in the wake of the pandemic.
Inflation rises 5.4% from year ago, matching 13-year high
The unexpected burst of inflation this year reflects sharply higher prices for food and energy, but also for furniture, cars, televisions, and other largely imported goods.
Americans quit their jobs at a record pace in August
The Labor Department said that quits jumped to 4.3 million in August, the highest on records dating back to December 2000, and up from 4 million in July.