US Labor Market Remains Tight with Steady Jobless Claims at 191K

The US labor market remains tight as weekly jobless claims fall to 191,000, indicating another month of solid job growth. The housing market is showing signs of stabilizing at very low levels, with new single-family home sales rising 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 640,000 units in February. Persistently tight labor market conditions have left some economists expecting the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates two more times this year, despite the U.S. central bank signaling on Wednesday that it was on the verge of pausing its monetary policy tightening campaign.