The US Jobless claims: 53 years' low

The US Jobless claims: 53 years' low

The number of initial jobless claims in the US collapsed to 187K last week, the lowest since 1969. Before the pandemic, the number was hovering around 220K, and we saw a complete recovery to these levels in the previous four weeks. The fresh data has marked a move into uncharted territory, indicating a further tightening in the labour market.

The US Jobless claims: 53 years' low - 1

Such data further reinforces the need for the Fed to tighten policy as labour market further screws the inflationary spiral amid the initial jump in energy and commodity prices. A strong labour market is positive news for both stocks and the dollar as the central bank will have more room to tighten policy without fear of sending the economy into recession.

Right now, the market is banking on seeing six more rate hikes before the end of the year and the start of active selling off the balance sheet as early as in May-July.

Alex Kuptsikevich

Alex Kuptsikevich

Financial market professional with 16-years' experience and Senior financial analyst at FxPro. Author of daily reviews on the impact of economic events with comments regularly featured in top international and Russian media. Covers fundamental analysis, global markets, foreign exchange market, gold, oil, cryptocurrencies.

Alex Kuptsikevich is a regular contributor to both digital and print media including CNBC, Forbes, Reuters, MarketWatch, BBC and Coindesk.