Despite the war in Ukraine, the US labor market shows no major signs of weakness. As the US Department of Labor announced on Friday in Washington, the US economy created 263,000 jobs in September.
That was slightly more jobs than the 250,000 new jobs analysts were expecting – but also a little less than the 315,000 new jobs from the previous month. In addition, the increase in employment in the two previous months of July and August was revised upwards by a total of 11,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, unemployment fell. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent from 3.7 in the previous month, back to where it was in July. According to the department, about 5.8 million Americans are currently unemployed. That’s a low number in a longer comparison.
There should be more rate hikes
Due to low unemployment, wages have been rising at a rapid rate for some time. The trend continued in September: the average hourly wages increased by 0.3 percent compared to the previous month, compared to the same month last year there was an increase of 5.0 percent. Many US companies are now complaining about a shortage of workers.
The labor market report is unlikely to change much in the assessment of the US Federal Reserve, commented Andrew Hunter from the analysis house Capital Economics. The Fed assesses the situation on the job market as overheated in view of low unemployment and significantly rising wages and sees additional inflationary risks in this. The job report thus speaks for additional interest rate hikes by the Fed. It has already raised its key interest rate sharply due to high inflation and is planning further increases.
In financial markets, the US dollar strengthened in response to robust jobs data. US Treasury yields also rose, indicating investors are anticipating further Fed rate hikes. The figures were received negatively on the stock exchanges, as rising interest rates can slow down the economy.
