Economics
U.S. Job Gains Seen Hanging On in August With Tougher Road Ahead
- Unemployment rate expected to fall again, return to below 10%
- But cuts to stimulus risk stalling of labor-market rebound
Economists project Friday’s jobs report will show the unemployment rate dropped below 10% for the first time since March.
Photographer: Matthew Hatcher/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The battered U.S. labor market probably saw a fourth month of improvement in August, but chances of further outsize gains are diminishing without the widespread stimulus payments and small-business aid that have sustained incomes and spending.
Economists project Friday’s jobs report will show the unemployment rate dropped below 10% for the first time since March, with employers adding 1.35 million people to payrolls, a figure boosted by the Census Bureau’s hiring of about 240,000 temporary workers to help conduct a decennial count that’s been delayed by the pandemic.