The number of Americans filing for the first time for unemployment benefits fell last week, although there are other indications that the labor market has been weakening lately.
A report released by the Department of Labor today showed that the total unemployment claims last week recorded a total reading of 793,000 claims. This reading has exceeded the expectations set by the analysts at 757,000 and slightly decreased compared to the previous week of 812,000.
Unemployment claims remain at the peak of 665,000 recorded during the 2007-2009 recession. However, the number of claims recorded is still below the reading recorded last March at 6.867 million.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Thursday that the recovery in the labor market had begun to stall following the increase in the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic which continued to burden the economy and the health of the people.
The U.S. administration reported last Friday that the economy only created 49,000 jobs in January after losing 227,000 in December.
Even so, the market is still optimistic and at the same time cautious as new Covid-19 cases in the U.S. are declining every day. Massive distribution of vaccines will help regenerate the economy.
The US dollar index is still declining by 0.01% to the exchange rate of 90.347 as of 10.15 p.m.
