"The U.S. remains the biggest by the more common, more widely accepted and in our view, more useful measure"
- David Hensley, JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s director of global economic coordination
The US is no longer the world's largest economy, isn't it? According to the IMF, China overtook America to become the biggest economy in the world. The US has been the leader since 1872, when it overtook Britain. However, the latest IMF data shows China's economy is worth 11 trillion pounds thanks to rapid industrialization compared with 10.8 trillion for the U.S. Moreover, the Washington-based think-tank predicts that the economy will be worth 16.7 trillion in 2019, outperforming the US economy by 20%, which will be only 13.8 trillion pounds worth. However, many economists would not agree with the IMF, as the body's comparison is based on the purchasing power parity. Thus, the US still remains the number one by the widely accepted measure.
While economists argue whether China has overtaken the US, the number of people applying for the US jobless benefits declined again last week, reinforcing the view the labour market is gaining stable footing. Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 287,000 in the week ended 4 October, according to the Labor Department, while claims for the prior week were revised up by 1,000 to 288,000. The four-week moving average declined 7,250 to 287,750, reaching the lowest level since February 2006. On top of that, the number of people continue to apply for jobless aid dropped by 21,000 to 2,831,000 for the week ended 27 September.
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