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US Jobless Rates Near 50-Year Low

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Christopher Gutfreund

Founder · 16 January 2020

Currencies Covered:

USD

The US unemployment rate held steady at 3.5% in December 2019, remaining at the lowest level since 1969 and in-line with market expectations.

Thursday 16th January 2020  - 13:38 (GMT)

Figures just released by the US Department of Labor have shown that the number of individuals claiming unemployment benefit within the USA fell in the first part of 2020. The number of unemployed people decreased by 37k to 1.767M whilst first-time benefit claimants also dropped from 214k to 204k. The US unemployment rate held steady at 3.5% in December 2019, remaining at the lowest level since 1969 and in-line with market expectations.

The positive data comes as other areas of the US economy continue to boom under President Trumps stewardship. US share market indexes, the Dow Jones and the S&P 500, have both hit new highs in recent days whilst retail sales during December also beat expectations. This, combined with the general risk-aversion in the markets due to the recent political unrest in the Middle East, has seen the US dollar strengthen during early 2020.

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