The US labor market has so far proved robust during the crisis.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
Washington The US unemployment rate was flat in November – it remains at 3.7 percent. The US Department of Labor reported on Friday.
In addition, 263,000 new jobs were created nationwide in November. According to the Bloomberg news agency, experts had expected fewer jobs. The American labor market thus continues to be robust in the face of inflation, supply chain problems and trade disputes with China.
The effects of the crisis in the tech industry are therefore not yet reflected significantly in the statistics. Tech giants like Meta, Amazon and Twitter had cut tens of thousands of jobs.
The pressure on the central bank Fed remains high: It wants to contain escalating inflation and at the same time cool down the overheated labor market with higher interest rates. According to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, the demand for labor far exceeds the supply of available staff. The aim is to restore the disturbed balance.
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The Fed is also concerned about the strong nominal wage growth in view of the targeted inflation rate of 2.0 percent. Hourly wages rose 5.1 percent year-on-year in November, after a revised 4.9 percent increase in October.
The US central bank is fighting inflation, which recently amounted to 7.7 percent, with strong interest rate hikes and intends to do more in the middle of the month. According to Powell’s signals, investors expect a smaller rate hike of half a percentage point. The Fed has recently raised the key interest rate by 0.75 percentage points four times in a row – to now 3.75 to 4.00 percent.
More: End of the American Dream? Wave of layoffs in Silicon Valley also affects German skilled workers