Over the past few quarters, the US economy has been considered to be a driver of global growth according to many economists on the street. According to reports released by the International Monetary Fund and the World bank, both institutions believe that with the slowdown in Japan and China and tepid recovery seen in Europe, the US economy could be the prime focus for investors going forward. Economic reports from the US over the last couple of weeks have been below all estimates which has given rise to speculations that the US economy might be losing momentum at the current moment.
In some positive news for the US economy it was reported that the US economy added close to 280,000 jobs in the month of May which is indicative of the strong labour market conditions prevalent in the economy. The report released by the Labour Department led to a strong surge in US bond yields and the dollar which recouped all of its losses from the overnight trading session. Most traders believe that the strong labour market report has given the Federal Reserve the required reasoning for hiking interest rates for the first time in close to 7 years. Many believe that the Federal Reserve might hike interest rates as early as September.
It was reported yesterday, that fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, a sign that job cuts remain low and employers continue to remain bullish about the future growth outlook of the US economy. According to a report released by the Labour department, it was reported today that the number of applications for unemployment benefits fell by more than 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 276,000. The 4 week average considered to be a much less volatile average continues to remain near 15 year lows which is a huge positive.
