August jobs report could show another weak month for hiring

The federal government’s August jobs report is widely expected to show a continuation of this summer’s soft hiring numbers, just one month after the labor market contracted by 23,000 jobs.

Ahead of the report’s release Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET, economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected overall hiring of 53,000 roles in August and the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.1%.

If those predictions prove accurate, it would mark the third weakest month for overall hiring so far this year.

Economists also expect anemic wage growth of 0.3% month-over-month and 3% on an annual basis.

“We would not be surprised to see wage growth even softer,” wrote Citi’s Veronica Clark, whose overall wage expectations were in line with consensus.

A slowing pace of wage growth would come at a difficult time for consumers, especially those in lower income tiers.

The inflation rate in July was 3.4% from a year ago, but that was before energy prices started climbing again.

On Thursday, the international crude oil benchmark Brent surpassed $97 per barrel before closing around $95. Since Aug. 4, the price of Brent has risen more than 20%.

August inflation data won’t be released until Sept. 11. But any uptick from…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business