US business owners hired more workers than expected in November this year and raised wages despite growing fears of a recession, which could complicate the Federal Reserve’s intention to start to slow down. the pace of its rate hikes this month. Non-agricultural job creation totaled 263,000 last month, the Labor Department said today in its employment report. October data was revised upwards to show 284,000 job openings, rather than the previously reported 261,000. Economists polled by the Reuters news agency had forecast the creation of 200,000 jobs in November. Estimates ranged from 133,000 to 270,000. US hiring remains strong even as tech companies including Twitter, Amazon and Facebook parent Meta have announced thousands of job cuts. Economists said these companies were adjusting after excessive hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. They noted that small businesses remain desperate for workers. At the end of October, there were 10.3 million vacancies available in the United States, many of them in the areas of leisure and hospitality, health and social assistance. Unemployment The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7% in November. Average hourly wages rose 0.6%, after advancing 0.5% in October. That took the annual wage gain to 5.1% from 4.9% in October. Wage growth peaked at 5.6% in March. The US jobs report came after data showed inflation slowing in October. Still, the job market remains tight, with 1.7 jobs for every jobless in October, likely to keep the Fed on its monetary tightening path through at least the first half of 2023. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, on Wednesday that the US central bank may reduce the pace of its rate hikes “as early as December”. Fed officials meet on December 13 and 14. The Fed has already raised its benchmark interest rate by 3.75 percentage points this year, from near zero to a range of 3.75% to 4.00%, in the fastest rate hike since the 1980s.
Agência Brasil
Folha Nobre - Desde 2013 - ©