Thursday, March 22, 2007
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Declined 4,000 Last Week
First-time claims for jobless benefits in the U.S. unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest in more than a month, signaling strength in the labor market. Initial jobless claims fell by 4,000 to 316,000 in the week ended March 17, the fewest since Feb. 3, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The total number of people collecting benefits dropped to the lowest in almost two months.
Federal Reserve policy makers yesterday kept the benchmark interest rate at 5.25 percent and repeated a forecast that the economy will probably expand ``at a moderate pace'' in coming months. ``There hasn't been much change in layoff conditions,'' said Michelle Girard, a senior economist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut. ``There is more than enough labor demand to keep the labor market tight.''
The unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent last month, approaching the five-year low 4.4 percent reached in October.
Read the full story at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=aGB7_hZ8RK4c&refer=economy
Equilibrium in the labour market is determined by the interaction of the demand for labour by firms and the supply of labour by individuals. Robust economic growth is expected to contribute to a continuation in the pace of hiring by firms, thus affecting the labour demand curve of the economy. Note, however, that high levels of ``resource utilization,'' which are reflected by the low jobless rate, pose a risk that inflation pressures will develop in the future.
The much acclaimed new interactive learning package LiveEcon can help you understand the economics behind these important policy events. For instance, Chapter 7 provides an introduction to the issues of employment and the implications for inflation. Chapter 16 also discusses the Phillips Curve in detail at an intermediate level. Find out how to get LiveEcon at http://www.liveecon.com/. Download this blog as a Blogcast via the website.
First-time claims for jobless benefits in the U.S. unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest in more than a month, signaling strength in the labor market. Initial jobless claims fell by 4,000 to 316,000 in the week ended March 17, the fewest since Feb. 3, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The total number of people collecting benefits dropped to the lowest in almost two months.
Federal Reserve policy makers yesterday kept the benchmark interest rate at 5.25 percent and repeated a forecast that the economy will probably expand ``at a moderate pace'' in coming months. ``There hasn't been much change in layoff conditions,'' said Michelle Girard, a senior economist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut. ``There is more than enough labor demand to keep the labor market tight.''
The unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent last month, approaching the five-year low 4.4 percent reached in October.
Read the full story at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=aGB7_hZ8RK4c&refer=economy
Equilibrium in the labour market is determined by the interaction of the demand for labour by firms and the supply of labour by individuals. Robust economic growth is expected to contribute to a continuation in the pace of hiring by firms, thus affecting the labour demand curve of the economy. Note, however, that high levels of ``resource utilization,'' which are reflected by the low jobless rate, pose a risk that inflation pressures will develop in the future.
The much acclaimed new interactive learning package LiveEcon can help you understand the economics behind these important policy events. For instance, Chapter 7 provides an introduction to the issues of employment and the implications for inflation. Chapter 16 also discusses the Phillips Curve in detail at an intermediate level. Find out how to get LiveEcon at http://www.liveecon.com/. Download this blog as a Blogcast via the website.
# posted by Kostas @ 19:28 
