By: Real America News Updated 28 Mar 2022, 18: 39 pm EDT
The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week fell to its lowest level in 52 years, as the US labor market. continues to show strength despite rising inflation.
Unemployment claims decreased by 25,000 to a total figure of 187,04 for the week ending 19 March, the lowest level since September 1969, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday.
The drop in applications last week was generalized, with large decreases in California, Michigan, Kentucky and Illinois.
The average of four s emanates also fell to levels not seen in five decades. The Department of Labor reported that this average fell to 211,750 since the 223 ,223 of the previous week.
The claims report also showed that the number of people who received benefits after an initial week of help decreased from 67, to 1,678 million during the week ending 12 of March, the lowest level since January 1969.
Earlier this month, the government reported that employers added 678, Strong jobs in February, the largest monthly total since July. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, from 4% in January, extending a sharp drop in unemployment to its lowest level since before the pandemic struck two years ago.
U.S. companies posted a near-record level of job vacancies in January with 11.3 million, which represents 1.8 job vacancies per unemployed person. This trend helped to increase workers’ wages and increased inflationary pressures
A signal to raise interest rates
The strength in the labor market reported by the Department of Labor on Thursday may push the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by half a percentage point at its next monetary policy meeting in May.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Monday that the US central bank should move “quickly” to raise rates and possibly “more aggressively” to prevent high inflation from taking hold.
The Federal Reserve launched a high-risk effort last week to control the worst inflation since the beginning of the decade of 1980, raising its short-term benchmark interest rate and signaling up to six additional rate hikes this year.
The Fed’s quarter-point increase in its benchmark rate, which it had set at almost zero since the start of the covid pandemic-10, marks the beginning of its effort to curb the high inflation that followed the recovery from the recession.
Rate increases will eventually mean higher loan rates for many consumers and businesses.
Those in charge of central bank policymakers have projected that inflation will remain elevated and end 2022 at 4.3%.
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