The U.S. economy continues to impress.
But the labor market is expected to continue slowing down in July, leaving economists divided on whether the Federal Reserve should raise rates again in September or hold tight after last week’s rate increase.
The July jobs report, due out Friday morning, is expected to show nonfarm payrolls rose by 200,000 last month, with the unemployment rate expected to hold at 3.6%, according to estimates from Bloomberg.
Wages, a closely watched indicator of how much leverage workers are exerting in the labor market, are expected to rise 0.3% over the prior month and 4.2% against last year.
“We expect the July employment report to show a continued gradual slowdown in employment growth and a decline in wage growth to a two-year low,” said Andrew Hunter, deputy chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics. “That should give Fed officials a little more confidence that the moderation in core inflation will continue.”
In June, the U.S. economy created 209,000 new jobs while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6%. Following this report, the Fed raised rates another 0.25% on July 26, with Fed Chair Jay Powell calling the labor market “very tight.”
Click here to read the entire report from Myles Udland in Yahoo Finance.