Friday’s monthly jobs report will likely mark a pivotal moment for the economy and the Federal Reserve.
FILE - A linesman works on power lines under the morning sun, July 12, 2024, in Phoenix. for July — it would heighten worries that the job market is stumbling. The Fed might then seek to deliver a stimulus with a larger-than-usual interest rate cut of a half-percentage point when it meets later this month.If, on the other hand, hiring picked up from July's gain of just 114,000 or if the unemployment rate fell from 4.
Economists have estimated that the government will report Friday that employers added 160,000 jobs in August and that the unemployment rate slipped back to 4.2%. Since hitting a half-century low of 3.4% in April of last year, the jobless rate has risen nearly a full percentage point. Recent economic data has been mixed, elevating the importance of the jobs report, which is among the more comprehensive economic snapshots the government issues. The Labor Department surveys roughly 119,000 businesses and government agencies and 60,000 households each month to compile the employment data., and fewer workers are quitting for new opportunities. In a healthy job market, workers are more likely to quit, usually for new, higher-paying opportunities.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has made clear that he doesn't want to see the job market weaken further, which is why a particularly poor jobs report might lead the Fed to announce a deep rate cut this month.
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