The U.S. labor market has been showing resilience. In September, 336,000 new jobs were added to the economy, as announced by the Department of Labor on Friday (6). The increase, nearly double what economists had predicted, serves as a confirmation of the vitality of the labor market and the robustness of an economy facing challenges.
September marked the 33rd consecutive month of job growth. However, wage gains were slower than expected, with the average hourly earnings increasing by 0.2% from the previous month and 4.2% compared to September 2022.
But not everything is rosy.
Some financial analysts believe that job growth could accelerate a recession, prompting the Federal Reserve, the American Central Bank, to raise interest rates even further in November. And what does this mean for consumers?
Credit card rates are well above 20%, on average, the highest level in two decades. People who carry a balance month to month will take even longer to pay off what they owe.
Mortgage rates rose to 7.49% this week, up from 6.66% a year ago and the highest level in more than two decades. These high rates will add more families to the group that will not be able to achieve the dream of homeownership.
The stock market fell in reaction to the news about the strength of the labor market. The reason this concerns investors is the possibility of further interest rate hikes by the Fed.
Source: The New York Times