US payrolls in well-worn territory – RBC

Josh Nye, senior economist at Royal Bank of Canada, notes that the US Jobs growth slowed to 164,000 in July

Key Quotes

“The unemployment rate was steady at 3.7%.”

“Wage growth ticked up to 3.2% year-over-year.”

“Employment growth came in right around its year-to-date average, unemployment was flat in the middle of its recent range, and wage growth edged higher but remained in familiar territory just north of 3%.”

“Overall, this is still a labour market that is “strong” and “in a good place,” as Powell put it on Wednesday. The concern, of course, is that trade tensions will have a greater impact on the US economy in the coming months—a risk that is getting harder to dismiss.  We expect the Fed will cut rates again in September.”