America's unemployment rate fell to 4.7% in January, the lowest it has been since July 2001. It had been 4.9% in December. Job gains were in such areas as construction, manufacturing, professional and business services, education, and health care. Retail jobs were lost, as were some government jobs, but the overall effect was blunted by the broad-based gains.
Before retiring as Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan raised the prime rate one last time by one point, making it the highest it has been in five years. Greenspan's replacement, Ben Bernanke, will decide how to proceed at the next meeting on March 28, but he is expected to raise the rate even more.
Employees' hourly earnings also climbed 0.4% to $16.41 in January.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/03/D8FHLP800.html
No comments:
Post a Comment