BLS Jobs Report:
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
Employers Added 142,000 Jobs, Missing Expectations, Though Unemployment Ticked Down
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/jobs-report-august-unemployment-economy-b869cf39
Fed Governor Waller:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/waller20240906a.htm
Today's jobs report continues the longer-term pattern of a softening of the labor market that is consistent with moderate growth in economic activity, the details of which I will get into in a moment. As I said at the outset, considering the progress we have made on getting inflation back to target, I believe that the balance of risks is now weighted more toward downside risks to the FOMC's maximum-employment mandate.
While the labor market has clearly cooled, based on the evidence I see, I do not believe the economy is in a recession or necessarily headed for one soon. The collective set of economic data indicates to me that the labor market and the economy are performing in a solid manner and the prospects for continued growth and job creation are good, with inflation near 2 percent. I continue to believe that this can occur without substantial harm to the labor market. But I also believe that maintaining the economy's forward momentum means that, as Chair Powell said recently, the time has come to begin reducing the target range for the federal funds rate.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/jobs-report-august-unemployment-economy-b869cf39
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/waller20240906a.htm
Today's jobs report continues the longer-term pattern of a softening of the labor market that is consistent with moderate growth in economic activity, the details of which I will get into in a moment. As I said at the outset, considering the progress we have made on getting inflation back to target, I believe that the balance of risks is now weighted more toward downside risks to the FOMC's maximum-employment mandate.
While the labor market has clearly cooled, based on the evidence I see, I do not believe the economy is in a recession or necessarily headed for one soon. The collective set of economic data indicates to me that the labor market and the economy are performing in a solid manner and the prospects for continued growth and job creation are good, with inflation near 2 percent. I continue to believe that this can occur without substantial harm to the labor market. But I also believe that maintaining the economy's forward momentum means that, as Chair Powell said recently, the time has come to begin reducing the target range for the federal funds rate.