Jumpy Jobs
09/05/2017 |
Employers added just 156,000 jobs in August, and June and July were collectively downwardly revised 41,000. Yet job creation is averaging 185,000/month since June, and 176,000 YTD; excellent numbers this late in the cycle. More puzzling, wage growth has been 2.5% for three straight months, a level last consistently seen in 15Q4/16Q1! The unemployment rate should be allowed to decline more, and the next rate rise can be further delayed.