Fresh jobs data to be unveiled on Friday will mark the first such release since a dismal jobs report last month prompted President Donald Trump to fire the top official tasked with compiling labor statistics.
A jobs report in August showed a sharp slowdown of hiring over the summer, eliciting concern among some economists about a possible recession.
The U.S. added an average of about 35,000 jobs over three months ending in July, which marked a major cooldown from the roughly 196,000 jobs added on average over the previous three-month period, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data showed.
Economists expect U.S. employers to have hired 75,000 workers in August, which would mark better hiring than recent months but come in well below the pace recorded earlier in the year.
The latest jobs data will hold implications for a widely expected interest rate cut when top Federal Reserve policymakers gather in two weeks.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell recently said the central bank would “proceed carefully” but he hinted at the possibility of an interest rate cut, appearing to indicate greater concern for flagging employment growth than rising prices.
A weaker-than-expected jobs report on Friday could cement a potential interest rate cut, while a better-than-anticipated figure could nudge the central bank to wait a month to observe possible tariff-induced inflation.
Late Thursday, investors pegged the chances of a quarter-point rate cut this month at 97%, according to CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
Hours after the release of the weak jobs report last month, Trump removed BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. The jobs report featured downward revisions, prompting Trump to suggest without evidence that the job statistics had been “manipulated.” The BLS routinely revises estimates of jobs added in previous months.
McEntarfer, a Biden appointee who was confirmed by the Senate in 2024, had served in the federal government for two decades.
“It has been the honor of my life to serve as Commissioner of BLS alongside the many dedicated civil servants tasked with measuring a vast and dynamic economy,” McEntarfer said in a social media post after her dismissal. “It is vital and important work and I thank them for their service to this nation.”
William Beach, a former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who was appointed by Trump, condemned McEntarfer’s dismissal.
“The totally groundless firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, my successor as Commissioner of Labor Statistics at BLS, sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau,” Beach posted on X.
McEntarfer did not respond to an earlier ABC News request for comment.
As a replacement for McEntarfer, Trump nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation. Antoni is a longtime critic of the BLS and a contributor to the conservative policy blueprint Project 2025.
“Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE,” Trump said of Antoni in a social media post.
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