What will shake the market: a report on the labor market and the unemployment rate in the US
The US stock market rallied on the afternoon of the first day of September on a shaky note as investors remain concerned about the interest rate hike.
Investors on Friday are looking forward to the release of the US employment report for August. Economists expect the economy to have added 300,000 jobs last month, down from July but still a solid gain amid tight labor markets.
The US Federal Reserve is closely monitoring US employment and inflation data to decide how much to raise rates while trying to contain inflation. In recent days, expectations have risen that the Fed will raise the rate by another 0.75 percentage points, as it did in the last 2 meetings, and will not slow down the pace of the rate hike. Its meeting will take place at the end of this month.
However, the S&P’s rally means it has broken a 4-day losing streak. The rate hike hit growth stocks.
September is usually the worst month of the year for the stock market. Friday’s report comes out just before the three-day US holiday, and there will be plenty of time to think about the stock’s market direction when the market reopens.
Here are 3 events that could affect the market on Friday:
1. Labor market in August
At 08:30 ET (1230 GMT), the US government’s report on the non-farm labor market is due. Analysts expect 300,000 jobs to be created, up from 528,000 created in July, according to a surprisingly strong report.
2. Unemployment rate
As expected, the US unemployment rate will be 3.5%, as a month earlier, against the backdrop of a tough situation in the labor market. Earlier this week, the jobs report showed an unexpectedly high level of 11 million vacancies.
3. Average salary
Average hourly wages are on the rise, which means employers are forced to offer workers more money to fill vacancies. Analysts expect this figure to rise by 5.3% compared to the same month last year and up from 5.2% in July.