US Federal Reserve’s recent decision to maintain interest rates, despite other central banks like the Bank of England and the European Central Bank lowering theirs, has added to the uncertainty.
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Global stock markets have been heading south for the past few days, with the US, UK and Europe’s trading numbers in red amidst the growing fear of the world’s biggest economy heading for a recession.
Experts have pointed the reason for the slow economic growth in the US to jobs data, which was released in July. Additionally, the US Federal Reserve’s recent decision to maintain interest rates, despite other central banks like the Bank of England and the European Central Bank lowering theirs, has added to the uncertainty. But some say that talk of slowdown or recession is “premature”, as per BBC.
WHAT DOES THE US JOB DATA SHOW?
US employers have slowed hiring, adding an average of about 170,000 jobs each month for the last three months, and just 114,000 in July, versus 267,000 a month in the first quarter of 2024, and 251,000 last year.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose in July for a fourth straight month, to 4.3%, nearly a full percentage-point above its January 2023 low and the highest since October 2021.