US Economy News Today: Job Openings Surprise By Changing Little in May

Powell Touts The Fed’s Progress on Inflation in Portugal

3 hr 21 min ago

Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday the Federal Reserve has made “significant progress” in bringing inflation down.

The head of the U.S. central bank made the remark during a roundtable discussion at a European Central Bank conference in Portugal alongside his counterparts from other countries. 

Since hitting its peak in June 2022, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index has fallen steadily. The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation did see some bumps in the road during the first quarter of this year. But it has since continued its trend of what Powell on Tuesday called “really significant progress” toward the central bank’s target of 2% inflation.

“The last reading and the one before it to a lesser extent, do suggest that we are getting back on a disinflationary path,” Powell said. “We want to be more confident that inflation is moving sustainably down toward 2% before we start the process of reducing how tight our policy is.”

Read more about Powell’s comments here.

-Terry Lane

Jobs Report Expected to Show a Balanced Labor Market

3 hr 32 min ago

A more complete picture of what’s next in the labor market could come this week. ADP’s private employment report is set to be released tomorrow and will be followed by Friday’s employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The monthly employment report to be released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to show that employers added 200,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate held steady at 4%, according to economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. That’s less than the 272,000 jobs added in May.

Read more about job report expectations here.

Job Openings Surprise With Little Change in May

7 hr 10 min ago

Job openings were little changed from the month prior in May, surprising economists with the labor market’s resiliency.

There were 8.1 million job openings in May, more than the 7.9 million economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires estimated.

Hires, quits and layoffs also were little changed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

This is good news for the Federal Reserve, as a strong labor market gives them more time to assess the trajectory of the economy before cutting rates.