WASHINGTON: U.S. employers maintained a robust pace of hiring in February, giving the economy a strong boost as it confronts the coronavirus outbreak that has stoked financial market fears of a recession and prompted an emergency interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
The Fed on Tuesday slashed its benchmark overnight interest rate by a half percentage point to a target range of 1.00per cent to 1.25per cent, in the U.S. central bank's first emergency rate cut since 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the economy's strong fundamentals, but said"the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity.
The government canvassed business in mid-February. At least 12 people have died in the United States from the respiratory disease called COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus and more than 100 have been infected. The deaths and rise in infections were recorded starting the final week of February. Overall, the fast-spreading disease has killed more than 3,000 people and sickened nearly 100,000, mostly in China.
Global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday reported a sharp drop in layoffs announced by U.S.-based companies in February and said the coronavirus outbreak"has not yet caused companies to cut positions." Labor market strength was reinforced by steady wage growth. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3per cent in February after gaining 0.2per cent in January. The annual increase in wages, however, slipped to 3.0per cent in February from 3.1per cent in January as last year's large gain falls out of the calculation. The average workweek increased to 34.4 hours last month from 34.3 hours in January.
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