The monthly jobs report comes out Friday morning and since it has the potential to affect both the presidential race and the Federal Reserve's long-anticipated interest rate cut, it's being very closely watched. Economists will be watching to see if the unexpected spike in the unemployment rate in July was a blip caused by factors including Hurricane Beryl, or a harbinger of a recession, the Washington Post reports. This may be the most closely watched look at the jobs market since early in the pandemic, the Post notes.
- If the report shows unemployment rose again in August, it will bolster the case for the Fed to deliver a rate cut of a half-percentage point, or 50 basis points, instead of the standard quarter-point when it meets later this month, the AP reports. If the rate fell from 4.3%, the Fed is likely to deliver a quarter-point cut, with more to follow.