Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, today said he is weighing “unacceptably high” joblessness as he considers whether the central bank should increase its asset purchases.
“Although the economy continues to expand, we must grow faster if we are to put all of our jobless workers and idle businesses back to work,” Dudley, who is also vice chairman of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, said in a speech at Pace University in New York.
A Labor Department report today showed fewer Americans filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments last week as the labor market disruptions wrought by superstorm Sandy ebbed. Applications for jobless benefits decreased by 23,000 to 393,000 in the week ended Nov. 24.
Spending Revision
The slowdown in consumer spending last quarter reflected fewer purchases of auto fuel and services such as utilities, insurance and financial transactions, the Commerce Department report showed.
The revisions also showed why households may be cutting back. After-tax income adjusted for inflation rose at a 0.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, compared with a previously estimated 0.8 percent pace. Wages and salaries rose by $30.4 billion, less than the initially reported $43.3 billion.
Wage gains in the prior period were cut as well, with the new data showing a $23.3 billion second-quarter gain that was about half the previous estimate of $55.2 billion.
Today’s GDP report also offered a first look at corporate profits. Earnings before taxes climbed 3.5 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months, and rose 8.7 percent from the same period last year.
Trade and inventories were the bright spots in the report. The trade deficit shrank to $403 billion, less than the $413.7 billion previously estimated and down from $407.4 billion in the prior quarter.
Inventory Boost