However, the unemployment rate fell in January to 6.3% from 6.7% and it was mainly because many people who had lost jobs stopped looking for one. Point to be noted that the federal government doesn’t count people as unemployed unless they’re actively seeking work. More than 20.4 million people were receiving unemployment benefits in the week that ended on 23rd Jan 2021. The job market’s persistent weakness is fueling President Joe Biden’s push for a $1.9 trillion economic rescue package. President Biden’s proposal would extend 2 federal unemployment benefit programs that are set to expire in mid-March. His proposal would also raise the federal unemployment benefit to $400 a week from the current $300.

On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell highlighted the struggling job market and said he thought that any worrisome surge in inflation would be unlikely. He said the Fed has the financial tools it needs to quell inflation. For now, inflation remains below the Fed’s target rate. Powell said, “We are still very far from a strong labor market whose benefits are broadly shared”. A driving force behind the Biden administration’s push for more aid is the impending expiration of the extended jobless benefits in barely more than a month. At least 11 million people would lose benefits as a result. Powell said if these people were counted among the officially jobless, the unemployment rate would be nearly 10%. Job losses among the highest-earning one-quarter of Americans have been just 4%, while job losses among the poorest one-quarter have been a staggering 17%.

Source: http://www.coolrocketry.com/labor-department-says-unemployment-slightly-fell-to-793000-in-the-us/