White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Tuesday there is "plenty of room" to cut interest rates further, though he noted that rising inflation could alter this outlook. Speaking at the WSJ CEO Council, Hassett, who is widely considered a front-runner to become the next Federal Reserve chair, compared the current economic environment to the 1990s, describing it as a "potentially extremely transformative time." When asked how he would respond if President Donald Trump requested interest rate cuts that he personally disagreed with, Hassett provided a specific example of when rate cuts...
The better-than-expected JOLTS data briefly strengthened the dollar, indicating the relatively solid US labor market, but gold continued to rise. The market interpreted this data as a signal that the US economy hadn't yet made a hard landing, but market participants' primary focus had shifted from "daily data" to the Fed's medium-term policy stance. The end of the high-interest rate cycle has made gold attractive as a hedge, so even though the dollar strengthened after the JOLTS release, selling pressure on gold was limited, and the price of the precious metal remained at a high level. The...
Compensation costs for civilian workers in the United States increased 0.8% in the third quarter of 2025, slowing from a 0.9% increase in the previous period, slightly below market expectations of 0.9%. Wages and salaries increased 0.8%, down from a 1% increase in the first quarter, while benefit costs increased 0.8%, up from 0.7% previously. (alg) Source: Trading Economics
Employment in Australia dropped by 21,300 to 14.66 million in November 2025, swinging from a downwardly revised 41,200 gain in the previous month and missing market expectations of a 20,000 increase. Full-time employment declined by 56,500 to 10.08 million, reversing a downwardly revised 53,500 rise in October, while part-time employment increased by 35,200 after a downwardly revised 12,500 rise previously. The employment-to-population ratio fell to 63.8% from October's 64.0% and the participation rate eased to 66.7% from the prior 66.9%. On an annual basis, total employment rose by 182,400,...
The number of US citizens submitting new applications for unemployment insurance went up to 236K for the week ending December 6, according to a report from the US Department of Labour (DOL) released on Thursday. The latest print came in above initial estimates (220K) and was higher than the previous week's 192K (revised from 191K). Additionally, the 4-week moving average increased to 216.75K from the 214.75K average of the previous week. Finally, Continuing Jobless Claims improved to 1.838M. Source: FXstreet.com