Employment indicators are some of the timeliest measures of the state of the US economy. In the days, hours and minutes following their release, markets can react decisively if they miss expectations.
This is because the Federal Reserve (the Fed) uses the latest employment data to check whether its monetary policies are achieving their goals and what direction the economy is heading. For example, over the past 18 months, the Fed has raised rates and held them at their highest level for some time to combat inflation. Higher interest rates tend to slow down the economy, and a key sign of this slowdown is higher unemployment…to view the full article, please click here.
