US Weekly Unemployment Declines As Inflation Remains Sticky; Crypto on Watch

The weekly unemployment data released on Thursday showed that unemployment had declined in the US for a Week. The data came in the backdrop of crucial PPI inflation data, which disappointed the markets overall. With the Fed’s interest rate decision due next week, markets will gauge investment decisions carefully now.

US Weekly Unemployment Numbers

The US Department of Labor (DOL) released weekly data on Thursday that indicated there were 209,000 new claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending March 9. This print came in better than the market expectation of 218,000 and follows the previous week’s revised print of 210,000 from 217,000.

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PPI Inflation Comes More Than Expected

The weekly unemployment numbers came alongside the US PPI inflation data. Wholesale inflation saw a spike in February, according to US PPI inflation data that the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued on Friday. In February, the price at which raw materials are sold on the open market was measured by the PPI index, which came in at 0.6% instead of the 0.3% predicted by analysts. This is in contrast to a 0.3% rise in January as well.

The PPI inflation data is extremely important because the Fed will be meeting next week to discuss its upcoming March meeting. The PPI report released today is a key indicator for the impending Fed decision because it is a critical tool for understanding inflation and buying power. Investors have bet 99% that the Fed will hold interest rates steady at its upcoming meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Before this, market players anticipated that the Fed would cut its benchmark interest rate as early as March. But as inflation continues to remain stubborn, the possibility that the Fed will maintain higher interest rates for an extended period has solidified.

What Happened to Bitcoin?

The depressing PPI statistics caused a decline in the price of Bitcoin. The original cryptocurrency was down 0.5% at $72,702.40 at the time of writing. The volume of Bitcoin trades also decreased by 0.3% from the same period yesterday, to $43.9 billion. Lower interest rates typically dull the shine from government financial assets since they yield a lower rate of return on investment. This makes investors more willing to take on risk, which is good for the cryptocurrency markets.