Thursday 21:30, the United States released to February 13 when the week’s initial jobless claims recorded 861,000, far more than the expected value of 765,000, the previous value from 793,000 significantly revised to 84.8. CNN said the data released tonight is four times higher than the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the U.S. jobless claims for the week of February 6 were 4.494 million, higher than the expected 4.425 million and lower than the previous value of 4.558 million, peaking at 24.9 million last May.
The higher-than-market-expected figure indicates that the recovery in the U.S. job market is still unsatisfactory and represents a continued slow recovery of the U.S. economy from the new crown Epidemic. The most significant increases in initial jobless claims were seen in Ohio and California during the week.
Reassuringly, total jobless claims declined last week. But despite the gradual opening of the U.S. economy, there are still more than 18 million Americans living on unemployment benefits.
After the data was released, U.S. stock futures sank, with the Nasdaq futures down more than 1%, the Dow futures down more than 0.6%, and the S&P 500 futures down 0.72%. Panic index VIX rose to 9%, refreshing the high since February 10, at 23.54.
Agency commentary said U.S. initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week, but the labor market is steadily recovering as additional fiscal stimulus and the number of new confirmed cases of coronary pneumonia fell and more service businesses were able to reopen.
However, the Federal Reserve is not so optimistic.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell delivered a speech last week titled “Back to a Strong Labor Market” in which he said the Fed is committed to doing everything it can to promote employment and will continue to implement accommodative policies such as QE until there is substantial further progress in the U.S. economy.
The newly disclosed minutes of the January FOMC meeting also focused on describing the problems of the U.S. labor market, emphasizing that the easing policy will not be easily changed. Officials believe that the U.S. economy is still far from achieving the FOMC’s “broad and inclusive goal” of maximum employment, and that it will take some Time to achieve the goal even if the labor market is developing rapidly. If the large number of people reported to have left the labor market since the beginning of the epidemic is counted as unemployed, the unemployment rate will be much higher.
Boston Fed President Rosengren said during a panel discussion on Wednesday that U.S. Inflation will not consistently reach 2 percent over the next two years as long as unemployment remains high. He said a higher inflation rate in the short term would not surprise him due to some price increases and the disappearance of last year’s lower inflation rate from statistical comparisons.
Rosengren said he is concerned that the lengthening of the epidemic period could bring long-term scars to the labor market, especially for women who have quit their jobs to care for their children because of school closures he said.
“I’m very concerned about the disruption of the capital and labor markets. If we don’t aggressively address this problem, it will become more permanent.”
U.S. policymakers, who are debating another round of stimulus packages, are also keeping a close eye on the jobs data. Even without Republican support, Democrats are expected to barely pass President Biden‘s $1.9 trillion package, which would extend the federal unemployment program again and increase weekly supplemental unemployment benefits from $300 to $400.
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