City
Epaper

US unemployment drops to 3.5% in Sept with 1,36,000 new jobs

By IANS | Updated: October 5, 2019 10:55 IST

The US unemployment index fell from 3.7 per cent to 3.5 per cent in September, a month when 1,36,000 new jobs were created, the US Department of Labor reported this Friday.

Open in App

The unemployment volume is at its lowest since the month of December 1969, no less than 50 years ago, the Efe news reported.

Though the US economy continues to provide almost full employment, the creation of 136,000 new jobs was below the expectations of analysts, who had forecast some 147,000 places of employment added to the US labor force.

The average hourly wage in September dropped 1 cent on the dollar to $28.09, after an increase of 11 cents the month before.

Over the past 12 months, wages have increased by 2.9 per cent, three-tenths less than the amount they went up in August.

The rate of participation in the labor force, which is to say the proportion of Americans who are either employed or seeking employment, remained stable at 63.2 percent in September.

That was the 108th straight month in which employment has grown in the United States, the labor market's longest streak on the positive side in recorded history.

In its last meeting on monetary policy in September, the Federal Reserve System (Fed), the central bank of the United States, decided to lower interest rates to a range between 1.75 per cent and 2 per cent.

That was the second consecutive cutback in interest rates in a decade, after the Fed decreed the first last July. That one was ordered as a measure taken to counteract the intense financial crisis at the end of 2008.

The Fed has defended that strategy as a way to strengthen the economy in the context of a slowdown in global growth, particularly in China and in Europe, and the uncertainty surrounding world trade.

The next meeting on monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve System is scheduled for October 29-30.

US President Donald Trump has on several occasions applied pressure on the Fed to lower interest rates in order to increase economic activity.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: FEDusFederal Reserve SystemUnited StatesDonald Trump
Open in App

Related Stories

InternationalUS Achieved All Military Objectives in Operation Epic Fury Against Iran, Says White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

InternationalIran Faces 8pm Deadline From the US: White House

InternationalUS Official Confirms Strike at “Dozens of Military Targets” on Iran’s Kharg Island: Report

InternationalFlorida Shooting: US Rapper Offset Injured at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood; Two Detained

InternationalIran Formally Rejects US Ceasefire Proposal, Presents 10-Point Plan To Permanently End War

कारोबार Realted Stories

BusinessAI Meets Gold Lending: Wizz Financial Introduces Next-Gen Lending Experience

BusinessIndiGo, BIAL conduct international contactless travel trials with IATA

BusinessDazzleDrys Announces Aggressive National Expansion Plan, Aiming for 100+ Outlets Across India in 12 Months

BusinessAmphenol Communications Solutions Highlights Advanced Mobility and Digital Infrastructure Innovations at Electronica India 2026

BusinessFerrous players set for a strong Q4, COAL India likely to report positive EBITDA growth