[Global Finance] The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time fell to a 14-month low

Data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on the 14th showed that in the week ending December 9, the number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time in the United States decreased by 19,000 from the previous month to 202,000, the lowest level since mid-October 2022.

Data showed that the four-week moving average of initial jobless claims, which fluctuated less last week, decreased by 7,750 to 213,250. At the same time, as of the week of December 2, the number of people applying for unemployment benefits in the United States was 1.876 million, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous month. The insured unemployment rate, which reflects the proportion of insured persons receiving unemployment benefits, continued to increase by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month to 1.3%.

Analysts pointed out that compared with the alarming speed in 2021 and 2022 when the economy recovers from the recession caused by the new crown epidemic, job market growth has slowed down under the influence of several interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Average monthly job creation has dropped from 606,000 in 2021 to 400,000 in 2022, and has further slowed to 232,000 this year. On the 13th, after concluding its last monetary policy meeting of the year, the Federal Reserve issued a strong hint that it would end the current cycle of interest rate hikes and cut interest rates as early as next summer, which may be beneficial to the job market's return to growth.