According to data released by the US Department of Labor on Thursday, the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States for the week ending October 7th was 209000, slightly lower than economists' consensus expectation of 210000, and not much different from the previous value of 207000, maintaining near the lowest level in history. This once again indicates that the US job market remains strong despite rising interest rates.
In addition, the four-week average number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States as of October 7th was 206300, compared to the previous value of 208800; The number of Americans continuing to apply for unemployment benefits for the week ended October 7th was 1.702 million, higher than economists' consensus expectation of 1.68 million and the previous value of 1.664 million.
Currently, the US economy and job market remain strong, while inflation is also steadily decreasing. The combination of easing inflationary pressure and good employment conditions has increased people's hope that the Federal Reserve can achieve a so-called soft landing, which is to defeat inflation without triggering an economic recession.
Overall, layoffs are still minimal and demand for labor remains strong. Even if the Federal Reserve takes proactive action to alleviate labor market conditions, companies have not laid off quickly, "said Rubeela Farooqi, Chief US Economist at High Frequency Economics