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Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

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The U.S. jobless rate dropped below 4% to close out 2021 and monthly wage growth accelerated, setting the table for a Federal Reserve interest-rate liftoff as soon as March.

While concerns of price pressures build across the globe, European Central Bank officials view the spike as temporary even as euro area inflation unexpectedly picked up last month.

Among other data, British borrowing on credit cards surged in the run-up to Christmas while household spending in Japan fell, offering a mixed picture of consumer strength before the omicron variant took hold.

Here are some of the charts that appeared on Bloomberg this week on the latest developments in the global economy:

U.S.

Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

The unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% and wages jumped last month, adding to evidence of a tight labor market that’s expected to help spur Federal Reserve interest-rate liftoff as soon as March despite disappointing payroll growth.

Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

Inflation pressures showed signs of easing at the end of 2021, though they remain elevated. Institute for Supply Management gauges of supplier deliveries and prices paid for materials both fell in December to their lowest levels in more than a year. That dragged down the group’s headline measure of factory activity to the lowest since January 2021.

Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

Bosses are desperate for new hires to meet surging demand, driving wages up and giving inflation-wary officials at the Fed something else to monitor. What’s less widely understood is that, in many industries, worker shortages will likely persist for years -- or even decades -- after Covid-19 is gone. 

Europe

Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

Inflation in the euro region accelerated beyond already record levels, defying expectations for a slowdown and complicating the task for European Central Bank officials who insist the current spike is temporary.

Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

British consumers took on the most debt since July 2020 in the run-up to Christmas, with a surge in borrowing on credit cards. The figures indicate strength in the economy in the weeks before the omicron variant of the coronavirus struck the U.K.

Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

Auto sales in Germany skidded last year to the lowest since at least 1990 as the chip supply crisis thwarted hopes for recovery from the pandemic.

Asia

Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

Japanese household spending fell in November for the first time in three months, a sign of unexpected fragility in consumption even before the omicron variant of the virus started to spread.

Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

Singapore’s recovery accelerated in the final three months of 2021, with easing virus restrictions and strong manufacturing helping push the economy to its fastest full-year growth in more than a decade.

Emerging Markets

Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

Brazil’s industrial production fell in November for the sixth consecutive month, raising concerns about the extent of the recession in Latin America’s largest economy.

World

Charting the Global Economy: Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 4%

The pandemic has tied a series of paralyzing knots in the global economy, but beyond the transportation delays and parts shortages lies a more enduring challenge for supply chains: climate change.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.