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  • Unemployment stays unchanged at 3.7% in August as expected.
  • Wage inflation, as measured by average hourly earnings, came in at 3.2% (YoY) in July.
  • July’s NFP reading of 164,000 gets revised down to 159,000.  

The US  Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday reported that Nonfarm Payrolls in August increased by 130,000 following July’s reading of +159,000 (revised from 1644,000) and came in weaker than the market expectation of 158,000.

With the initial reaction, the US Dollar Index edged lower and last down 0.02% on the day at 98.35.

Key takeaways from the press release

“The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7%.”

“In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 11 cents to $28.11, following 9-cent gains in both June and July.”

“Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.2%.”

“The labor force participation rate edged up to 63.2%  in August but has shown little change, on net, thus far this year.”