< anchor>
one of the
key price indicators, the number of U.S. jobs grew sharply last month. This is the second consecutive month of growth that has exceeded expectations. It is an indicator that is giving strength to the pressure to raise interest rates in the United States, and it is likely to affect interest rates in Korea.

He is a correspondent in Washington.

<Reporter>

The number of U.S. jobs increased by 31,1 jobs last month, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

That's well over the market forecast of 22,5.

It was up for the second month in a row, following January, when it nearly tripled expert expectations.

In the leisure and hospitality industry alone, there was an increase of 3,1.

As the job market, which the US Federal Reserve sees as a key price indicator, does not cool down, the March interest rate, which will be announced on the 10nd, is expected to increase the pressure to rise.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen has also reiterated that price stability is a top government priority.

[Janet Yellen/U.S. Treasury Secretary: The Biden administration's top economic priority is to lower inflation. We've seen inflation easing somewhat, but more work needs to be done.]

However, the variable is that unemployment has risen somewhat and wage growth has slowed.

The unemployment rate rose 5.22 percentage points to 3.2% in February, beating expert forecasts, and average hourly wages rose only 0.2% from the previous month, half of market expectations.

As a result, if wage growth has slowed even as jobs increase, excessive interest rate hikes can be avoided.

[Brian Colton/Chief Economist at credit rating firm Fitch: I don't think the Fed wants to go back to a 3.6% rate hike. But it's not going to stop raising rates. I think it's more likely to raise rates three times at a rate rate of 0.2%.]

As job growth and wage growth slow, the U.S. monetary authorities are likely to worry about how much to raise interest rates.

(Video Interview: Oh Jeong-sik, Video Editing: Choi Eun-jin)