The government will provide the latest snapshot of the labor market on Friday, revealing whether employers continue to cut jobs, and if so, by how much.
Forecasters surveyed by FactSet expect the Labor Department to report that US employers added about 250,000 jobs last month. For officials at the Federal Reserve (Fed), this is probably welcome news. The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates in hopes of gradually cooling the labor market without causing unemployment to skyrocket, thereby keeping inflation down.
Economists and policymakers are also watching two other data included in the report: average hourly earnings show signs of slowing and the labor force participation rate, which rose in August.
The Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision is scheduled for Nov. 2, and officials have stressed that the central bank will monitor employment data closely as it decides how aggressive it will be. doing. The report is also his second-to-last before November’s midterm elections, and both parties are almost certain to grab the data to claim they are the supreme managers of the economy.
There have been some signs recently that employers are holding back on hiring. Job vacancies fell to 10.1 million in August from 11.2 million in July. I applied for unemployment last week. rose modestly.
But the labor market has continued to confuse economists. August saw signs of a decline in hiring, but the July report showed a surprising acceleration.
“The labor market has been like a Ferrari for the past year and a half,” said Nick Bunker, director of North American economic research at career site Indeed. “It’s slowed down, but it’s still moving very fast.”
Gianna Smirek contributed to the report.