Source: blockchain.news
The United States additional 263,000 jobs last month, according to a report of employment figures released by the Labor Department on Friday.
It was the slowest month of hiring in 18 months, indicating the job market is cooling slightly as the Federal Reserve tries to tighten the economy enough to rein in the worst inflation in four decades without causing a recession.
The jobs number reveals a significant slowdown in hiring since August, when the US added 315,000 positions. The jobless rate fell to a 50-year low of 3.5% in September as employers continued to hire a shrinking pool of workers. The labor force participation rate fell slightly, indicating that fewer people are working or looking for work.
The data shows the labor market remains tight, with the unemployment rate falling to a five-decade low. In recent months, the job market has weakened, with average monthly job earnings falling from around 530,000 a month at the beginning of the year to 370,000 in June.
Cryptocurrency prices plummeted following new employment figures reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bitcoin dipped below $20,000 after the news, shedding around 2% in the last hour to trade at $19,623, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The drop indicates that hiring remains too strong for employers’ tastes. The strong monthly hiring figure implies that the Federal Reserve is likely to continue to hike interest rates sharply as it moves to reduce hiring in its efforts to squash high inflation.
Paul Craig, portfolio manager at Quilter Investors Ltd, commented on the development: “With this jobs report, it seems clear that we are on track for another significant hike from the Fed, with the market priced at 75 [basis point] rate hike at their next meeting.
In its epic battle to control inflation, the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate five times this year. The central bank aims to slow economic growth enough to reduce annual price increases toward its 2 percent target. But he has a long way to go. In August, a key measure of year-on-year inflation, the consumer price index (CPI), rose to 8.3 percent. Traders are waiting for US inflation data to be released on Thursday next week.
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