WASHINGTON — The number of Americans filing new claims forunexpectedly fell last week, offering more evidence of the economy's resilience despite tighter monetary policy.
"Labor market conditions remain exceptionally tight," said Michael Pearce, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics in New York. "That is consistent with most other indicators which suggest that the labor market is still carrying plenty of momentum, leaving the Fed on track to raise rates at its March meeting, and probably at the May meeting too."
Companies are generally reluctant to lay off workers after experiencing difficulties recruiting during the pandemic. The National Federation of Independent Businesses reported this week that the share of small businesses reporting job openings increased in January, saying this suggested that "owners are still seeing opportunities to grow their business."for every unemployed person in December.
U.S. stocks opened lower. The dollar was steady against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices fell.A second report from the Labor Department on Thursday showed the producer price index for final demand rebounded 0.7% in January, the largest increase since June, after decreasing 0.2% in December. The rise was led by a 1.2% advance in goods prices, which followed a 1.4% decline in December.
In the 12 months through January, the PPI increased 6.0% after advancing 6.5% in December. Economists had forecast the PPI climbing 0.4% and rising 5.4% year-on-year., the biggest causality of the U.S. central bank's aggressive policy tightening stance, remained downbeat. Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of U.S. homebuilding, dropped 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 841,000 units in January, the Commerce Department said in a third report.