Data on Wednesday showed there were 1.9 job openings for every unemployed person in January. The Fed's Beige Book described the jobs market as remaining "solid" in February, also noting "scattered reports of layoffs" and that "finding workers with desired skills or experience remained challenging."
With the labor market persistently tight, inflation readings strong and consumer spending robust in January, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told lawmakers this week that the U.S. central bank would likely need to raise interest rates more than expected.
Financial markets have priced in a 50-basis-point rate hike at the Fed's March 21-22 policy meeting, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
The Fed has increased its policy rate by 450 basis points since last March from near zero to a 4.50%-4.75% range. The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased 69,000 to 1.718 million during the week ending Feb. 25, the claims report also showed. The so-called continuing claims remain low, suggesting some laid off workers could be easily finding new work. The claims data has no bearing on February's employment report, which is scheduled to be published on Friday, as it falls outside the survey period.
According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm
payrolls likely increased by 205,000 jobs in February after
surging 517,000 in January. The unemployment rate is forecast
unchanged at a more than 53-1/2-year low of 3.4%.
The labor market is, however, cooling on the margins. A
report from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray &
Christmas on Thursday showed job cuts announced by U.S.-based
employers fell 24% to 77,770 in February. Planned layoffs were,
however, 410% higher compared to the same period last year. It
was also the highest February total since 2009.
Job cuts were concentrated in the technology industry, which
accounted for 28% of layoffs announced last month. Retailers and
finance firms are also reducing headcount.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
