美国失业率降至近50年来最低

U.S. job growth slowed sharply in September likely as Hurricane Florence depressed restaurant and retail payrolls, but the unemployment rate fell to near a 49-year low of 3.7 percent, pointing to a further tightening in labor market conditions.

The Labor Department\'s closely watched monthly employment report on Friday also showed a steady rise in wages, suggesting moderate inflation pressures, which could ease concerns about the economy overheating and keep the Federal Reserve on a path of gradual interest rate increases.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 134,000 jobs last month, the fewest in a year, as the retail and leisure and hospitality sectors shed employment.

The economy needs to create roughly 120,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Tuesday that the economy\'s outlook was "remarkably positive" and he believed it was on the cusp of a "historically rare" era of ultra-low unemployment and tame inflation.

The U.S. central bank raised rates last week for the third time this year and removed the reference in its post-meeting statement to monetary policy remaining "accommodative."

The Labor Department said it was possible that Hurricane Florence, which lashed South and North Carolina in mid-September, could have affected employment in some industries. It said it was impossible to quantify the net effect on employment.

劳工部周五公布的备受关注的月度就业报告也显示工资稳步上升，表明通胀压力适度，这可能缓解对经济过热的担忧，美联储得以继续逐步加息。

上月非农就业人数增加了134,000人，是一年来最少的，原因是零售业、休闲和酒店业就业人数减少。

美国经济需要每月创造大约12万个就业岗位，以跟上适龄劳动力人口的增长。

美联储主席鲍威尔周二表示，经济前景“非常乐观”，他认为这是一个“史上罕见”的超低失业率和温和通胀时代的顶端。

美国央行上周第三次加息，并在会后声明中取消了对货币政策保持“宽松”的说法。

劳工部表示，9月中旬飓风佛罗伦萨可能会影响一些行业的就业，不过无法量化这一影响。