Reuters
Fed seen on shallower rate path as wage gains cool
(Reuters) -The Federal Reserve may have less reason to raise interest rates as sharply or as high as earlier thought after a government report Friday rekindled hopes of easing inflation amid signs the pandemic-disrupted labor market is normalizing. The U.S. unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6% in February as more workers entered the labor force, and wage gains slowed to 0.2% from 0.3% in January, the Labor Department’s report showed. Though the month’s payroll gains of 311,000 exceeded expectations, hiring was concentrated in a narrower range of industries, a sign some economists pointed to as suggesting what has been an extremely tight labor market is set to ease.