Washington
\nJob growth in the US was weaker than expected last month, raising concern that the world\u2019s largest economy is starting to stumble under the weight of higher interest rates.
\nEmployers added 142,000 jobs in August, less than the roughly 160,000 analysts had forecast, the Labor Department said. It also said job gains in the previous two months were lower than initially estimated.
\nHowever, the unemployment rate fell back, dropping to 4.2% from 4.3% in July.
\nThe report is one of the most important gauges of the US economy and comes at a critical time, as voters weigh presidential candidates for the November election and the US central bank debates its first cut to interest rates in four years.
\nAnalysts said the latest figures kept the Federal Reserve on track for a rate cut at its meeting this month, but would do little to resolve questions about the direction of the US economy or how big a cut it should make.
\n\u201cRarely has there been such a make or break number \u2013 unfortunately, today\u2019s jobs report doesn\u2019t entirely resolve the recession debate,\u201d said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.
\nSoaring prices in 2022 prompted the Federal Reserve to raise its key lending rate to 5.3%, a roughly 20-year high.
\nFaced with higher borrowing costs for homes, cars and other debt, the economy has slowed, helping to ease pressures that were fuelling inflation, but adding to market jitters.
\nAs inflation has subsided, falling to 2.9% in July, the Fed is now under pressure to cut rates and ward off further economic slowing.
\nThe job gains in August, although below estimates, were higher than July, when a slowdown sparked fears and prompted several days of stock market turmoil.
\nConstruction and health care firms led the hiring last month, while manufacturers and retailers got rid of roles.
\nMs Shah said the data in Friday\u2019s report was mixed, but contained enough worrying signs that the Fed should make a bigger cut.
\n\u201cOn balance, with inflation pressures subdued, there is no reason for the Fed not to err on the side of caution and frontload rate cuts,\u201d she said.
\nBut others said the gains were just steady enough to warrant a 0.25 percentage point cut, as markets have long predicted – though it might be a sign of more cuts than expected in the months ahead.
\nThe Fed\u2019s decision would be \u201cclose run\u201d, said Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist for Capital Economics.
\n\u201cThe labour market is clearly experiencing a marked slowdown,\u201d he said, adding that the latest figures were \u201coverall still consistent with an economy experiencing a soft landing rather than plummeting into recession\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington Job growth in the US was weaker than expected last month, raising concern that the world\u2019s largest economy is starting to stumble under the weight of higher interest rates. Employers added 142,000 jobs in August, less than the roughly 160,000 analysts had forecast, the Labor Department said. It also said job gains in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-429699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n