File - Construction workers install roofing on a high rise in Manhattan's financial district on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in New York. On Friday, the U.S. government issues the April jobs report. – Month after month, the nation's job market has stood its ground against howling headwinds — rising interest rates, chronic inflation, major bank failures and economic uncertainties across the world.
The job market has so far withstood the Federal Reserve’s aggressive drive to stamp out high inflation, which last year hit a four-decade high and is still well above the Fed's 2% target. On Wednesday, the Fed raised its benchmark rate for a 10th time since March 2022, a move that will likely further drive up borrowing costs for businesses and consumers.Fed Chair Jerome Powell himself sounded somewhat mystified this week by the job market's durability.
“It wasn’t supposed to be possible for job openings to decline by as much as they’ve declined without unemployment going up,’’ Powell said. “It’s possible that we can continue to have a cooling in the labor market without having the big increases in unemployment’’ that usually occur. America’s factories are slumping. An index produced by the Institute for Supply Management, an organization of purchasing managers, has signaled a contraction in manufacturing for six straight months.