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Job openings in the United States have dropped to their lowest level in six years, as the demand for labour stalls amid concerns about trade, immigration and the surging role of artificial intelligence (AI).Tuesday’s Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey (JOLTS), a monthly report released by the US Labour Department, showed that job openings tumbled by 358,000 to 6.882 million in February.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThat was down from a projected 6.918 million job openings for the month, a steeper decline than experts had expected. In January, the JOLTS report had recorded 7.240 million job openings.Hiring efforts also slumped in February, with 498,000 fewer people hired, for a total of 4.8 million people. That marks the lowest hiring level since March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.Fewer people are also leaving their jobs for new ones, reflecting stagnation in the job market. Three million people quit last month, for a rate of 1.9 percent.Alongside the stagnating job market,...

U.S. jobs growth disappointed last month, with the data likely to set back market expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike as soon as this summer or early Fall.The U.S. added 57,000 jobs in June, according to the government's Nonfarm Payrolls Report released Thursday morning. That's lower than the 110,000 forecasted by economists and significantly below May's 129,000 gain (revised from an originally reported 172,000).The unemployment rate came in at 4.2% versus an expected 4.3% and May's 4.3%. The drop in the UE rate, even as hiring slowed, was due to the Labor Force Participation rate declining to 61.5% from 61.8%.Up strongly ahead of the report, bitcoin held above $61,000, higher by 4% over the past 24 hours.U.S. stocks are liking the data, Nasdaq 100 futures moving to a 0.7% gain from about flat ahead of the report. The 10-year Treasury yield has dipped four basis points to 4.46% Source link...

Over recent weeks, Parker Taylor reached a grim milestone in his work history.The 29-year-old had been employed consistently since he was a teen, first on a factory floor and most recently in medical sales. But the St. Petersburg, Florida, resident hasn't been able to start a new gig after losing his job shortly before the 2025 Thanksgiving holiday.Taylor has become part of a group of more than 1.8 million Americans classified as long-term unemployed — which the government defines as jobless for at least 27 weeks — in a given month this year. That figure is up about 45% from 2019 and 55% from 2023, a CNBC analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data found."This can't go on much longer without some type of catastrophic change to my life," Taylor said. "That this era of my life could affect my long-term future — my family's future, my future children's future — is something that I go to sleep thinking about."Without...

The surge in bond yields is the principal focus of financial markets The rise in bond yields continued last week, with the yield on the US Treasury’s 10-year bond hitting a three-year high of 4.82% before retreating to 4.75% later in the week, after new comments from a Federal Reserve governor (discussed in later sections). Prior to this, the yield had not been higher since 2023. Meanwhile, the yield on the 30-year bond hit the highest level since 2007. To date, the US Treasury’s effort to influence long-term yields through market intervention has not had a sustained impact, which suggests that intervention without changes in market fundamentals may sometimes have unintended market reactions. It might convince some traders that things are worse than expected. The latest incident in the Strait of Hormuz appears to have reinforced concerns that the crisis could persist, potentially leading to higher inflation. Futures markets now show an implied 68% probability that the Fed will raise the benchmark interest...

In the debate about the level of threat the U.S. national debt poses to the economy, most people can agree that any crisis will be felt most sharply by the youngest people in the economy.For example, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin has previously warned that surging debt is an issue the government cannot afford to ignore, writing in his 2023 letter to shareholders that “It is irresponsible for the U.S. government to incur a deficit of 6.4% when unemployment is hovering around 3.75%. We must stop borrowing at the expense of future generations.”A report published yesterday by the Peter G Peterson Foundation suggests that Gen Z, in particular, will face a smaller job market with lower wages if the fiscal trajectory of the country continues to persist.“Rising interest costs not only crowd out resources for public investments within the budget, but also deter private investment in businesses, which slows economic growth and negatively impacts the labor market,” the report says. One might argue...

Gold nudged higher on Tuesday as investors weighed mixed signals on potential U.S.-Iran talks and awaited a series of U.S. labor market reports this week for clues on the Federal Reserve's interest-rate trajectory.Matt Jelonek | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesGold prices gained on Tuesday, supported by a decline in oil ​prices that tempered inflation ​fears and lowered U.S. ​interest rate hike bets, while markets awaited further clues on the Federal Reserve's policy path.Spot gold rose 0.6% to $4,078.10 per ounce, ‌while U.S gold futures gained 1.1% to $4,134.60.Oil prices ⁠pared gains after Qatar said efforts to secure a diplomatic resolution to the U.S-Iran conflict were continuing, though disruptions to oil flows through key shipping routes persisted. Brent crude futures were ‌down over 4% on the news.Lower oil is probably one of the drivers supporting gold prices, said Bart Melek, global head ​of commodity strategy at TD Securities, adding that the decline in many ways has contributed to the interest rate outlook with short-term rates falling a little bit.Elevated energy prices reinforce expectations that ⁠the Fed will keep interest rates higher-for-longer to...

US Dollar Index gains ground to around 99.20 in Monday’s early Asian session. The US August NFP data came in stronger than expected, boosting Fed hike expectations. Traders await the US PPI and CPI inflation data later this week for fresh impetus. The US Dollar Index (DXY), an index of the value of the US Dollar (USD) measured against a basket of six world currencies, currently trades near 99.20 in the early Asian trading hours on Monday. The DXY edges higher amid a ramp-up in US rate hike bets. US markets are closed on Monday for Labour Day. Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday showed that Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) climbed by 162K in August, versus an upwardly revised rise of 21K prior. This figure came in above the market consensus of 56K. The Unemployment Rate in the US held steady at 4.1% during the same period. Traders moved to price in a roughly 58.3% probability that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will hike rates this month following...

WASHINGTON — Slightly fewer Americans filed for unemployment claims last week as jobless claims remain at historically low levels and layoffs are still relatively rare.Filings for benefits dipped to 206,000 last week from a revised 207,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, also fell modestly to 206,000.Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and economists watch them because they can be a sign of where the job market is headed. For the past year, claims have mostly stayed within a historically low range of 200,000 to 230,000 a week.The American job market has remained sturdy despite higher gasoline prices that have squeezed businesses and consumers since the fighting with Iran began Feb. 28.Layoffs are low. Businesses, remembering the labor shortages that followed the end of pandemic lockdowns, are reluctant to let go of staff. They’re hiring — but modestly by the standards of recent years.So...