As the economy recovers, the number of first-time jobless claims in the United States last week fell to the lowest level since the outbreak. Data released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed that in the week ending August 28, the number of people applying for regular state unemployment benefits for the first time fell by 14,000 to 340,000. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected 345,000. As of the week of August 21, the number of continuous applications for unemployment benefits fell to 2.7 million. Thanks to a broader economic restart and rising demand for labor, the number of people claiming unemployment benefits for the first time has been declining for several months.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said on Thursday that the proportion of US small businesses that still had job vacancies in August reached a record high. The unprecedented number of job vacancies prompted business owners to raise wages to attract workers. The federation said that 50% of companies had vacancies last month, an increase of 1 percentage point from July, and the ratio was the highest level since the statistics were collected in 1986. A record 41% of small business owners said they increased their salaries.

As Fed officials are enthusiastically discussing curtailing bond purchases later this year, investors will pay attention to the non-agricultural employment report scheduled to be released on Friday to understand the state of the US labor market. The median forecast by Bloomberg survey economists shows that the employed population may increase by 725,000 in August, which is slower than the growth rate of the previous two months, but stronger than the growth rate at the beginning of this year. The strong data will show that after months of limited labor supply, companies have achieved more success in recruiting.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said: “We have changed the long-term framework, saying that we will not preemptively, but to keep the economy running until we see signs of inflation,” and then we will adjust the interest rate policy.

Economists at Morgan Stanley said that the slowdown in economic growth in the second half of the year is expected to occur mainly in the third quarter, largely due to stimulus spending recovery and continuing supply chain issues. Economist Ellen Zentner and others said in a report on Thursday that GDP growth in the third quarter is currently tracking at 2.9%, which is far lower than the previous 6.5%. They wrote: "The U.S. economy is breaking away from the booming growth rate in the first half of the year, and it has cooled down due to the explosion of stimulus spending and economic reopening stimulus activities."

The three-month U.S. dollar Libor fell to a record low on Thursday, and short-term market excess funds continued to put downward pressure on interest rates. The global benchmark lending rate fell by 0.125 basis points to 0.11763%, lower than the previous record low of 0.11775% set on July 30. The Libor-OIS spread narrowed to about 4 basis points. Money market interest rates are under pressure throughout the year because the central bank has been buying assets and withdrawing funds from the cash account of the Ministry of Finance—which increases the reserves of the banking system.

After the production cut during the epidemic, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) continued to increase production last month, but some member states have difficulty keeping up. According to a survey conducted by Bloomberg, OPEC has increased production by 290,000 barrels per day, which is slightly more than the preset roadmap for increasing production. Saudi Arabia and Iraq are the main forces for increasing production. However, OPEC's production is about 10% below the overall quota, and some member countries—especially Angola and Nigeria—have deteriorating production capacity and have technical problems.

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