With the low unemployment rate and labor growth expected to be the continuing narrative, Friday’s June jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time will take a closer look under the hood of the employment market and will reveal notable trends to watch in the forthcoming months.
In addition to obtaining revealing information regarding the employment outlook, the June jobs report could also hint at more rate spikes to come, especially if the data tomorrow holds true that nonfarm payrolls increased by 195,000 and the unemployment rate maintains its 18-year low of 3.8 percent.
One additional item to keep a close watch is wages–economists are prognosticating whether increased wages will force inflationary pressures as the expectation is that average hourly earnings will increase by 0.3 percent compared to May and 2.8 percent within the past year. A closer look at other secondary data could allow economists to extrapolate trends in the labor market, such as the number of workers who have been unemployed for more than six months.