FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11/5/2021
Washington, DC
Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Senior Economist Dawit Kebede, PhD, issued the following statement in response to the Labor Department’s October Jobs Report:
“The job market showed strong growth in October, as expected, after two months of disappointing performance. As the Delta variant continues to decline, employment in leisure and hospitality is rebounding, signaling a return to normal economic activity.
“This is good news for the Federal Reserve who announced it will start tapering off its asset purchase program later this month. As wages continue to rise and inflation concerns increase, a consistently strong job market makes it easier for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, if needed, earlier than planned.
“The labor force participation rate remains constant and is 1.7 percentage points lower than pre-pandemic rates despite declining COVID-19 cases and the federal government ending supplemental unemployment benefits. This contradicts the expectation that we will start to see an increase in labor force participation this fall.”
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About CUNA:
Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America’s credit unions, which are owned by 120 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org. To find your nearest credit union, visit YourMoneyFurther.com.
CONTACT:
Lauren Williams
CUNA Communications
202-672-3396