The US labour market showed signs of a steady slowdown in October, with job openings increasing moderately and layoffs declining, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday. Job openings, a key indicator of labour demand, rose by 372,000 to 7.744 million at the end of October. However, the September figures were revised downward to 7.372 million from the initially reported 7.443 million. Economists polled by Reuters had anticipated 7.475 million vacancies. Labour Market Dynamics While job openings increased, hires dropped by 269,000 to 5.313 million, and layoffs fell by 169,000 to 1.633 million. These figures suggest a gradual cooling of the labour market rather than a sharp contraction. Hurricanes and strikes also impacted October’s labour market data. Rebuilding efforts in storm-affected regions and the resolution of strikes at Boeing and another aerospace company are expected to contribute to a ...
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| Has oil bottom? |
Friday's U.S rig count data has been one of the reason for the market reaction as prices began the week with a rebound in Asian trade. The data points to a drop in the number of oil drilling rigs in operations to a December 2009 low after there have been nine consecutive weeks of cut.
The statement by International Energy Agency, the world's oil consumer body in regards to U.S shale oil production to fall by 600,000 barrels per day this year and another 200,000 barrels per day in 2017 also helped the oil rally.
U.S. crude futures settled up by $1.84, or 6 percent, at $31.48 a barrel, rallying above $32 at one point.
Futures of Brent finished up $1.68, or 5 percent, at $34.69.
HAS OIL BOTTOM?
This is the difficult question because the concern on the glut of supply is still there but what has panned out so far seems to be quite comforting for the oil players. Since last week, the oil prices have seen some slight recovery after the Saudi Arabia-Russia led freeze production on oil's output at January's highs.
The agreement may have only acted as a cushion to the drop in oil prices though as another key member of OPEC, Iraq has said on Monday it planned to raise production to above 7 million bpd over the next five years, and export 6 million bpd of that.
Iran, OPEC's fourth largest producer, has repeatedly pledged to raise its output too to pre-sanctions levels.
Despite Monday's gains, some analysts said market conditions were weak, citing weakening demand for crude.
A Reuters poll forecast that U.S. crude inventories rose 3.2 million barrels last week to record highs above 504 million barrels
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