Fed Meeting Minutes: Some Data Did Not Show a Sharp Deterioration in the Labor Market

BlockBeats News, October 9th, the Federal Reserve meeting minutes mentioned that, in discussing the labor market, participants noted that job growth had slowed, and the unemployment rate had ticked up slightly. Participants believed that the modest pace of employment gains in recent months might reflect both a decline in labor supply and demand growth.

Participants highlighted that factors such as a decrease in net immigration or changes in the labor force participation rate had weakened labor supply, while the impact of moderate economic growth or heightened uncertainty on businesses' hiring decisions might be reasons for suppressing labor demand. In this context, participants mentioned a series of other indicators that help assess the labor market conditions, including the unemployment rate, the job openings-to-unemployed ratio, wage growth, the proportion of the unemployed finding jobs, the quit rate of employees, and the layoff rate.

Participants generally believed that the latest readings of these indicators did not show a sharp deterioration in the labor market conditions. However, a few participants thought that recent labor market data (including revisions to previous data and preliminary estimates of nonfarm payroll benchmark revisions) suggested that the period of labor market softness might be longer than previously reported. (FXStreet)