When the Labour Department put out a disappointing jobs report a month ago, an enraged President Donald Trump responded by firing the economist in charge of compiling the numbers and nominating a loyalist to replace her.

Nothing quite so dramatic is likely Friday when the department releases hiring and unemployment numbers for August. They are expected to show that companies, government agencies and nonprofits added a modest 80,000 jobs last month, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.
That would be a slight improvement on July's 73,000 but still offer more evidence that the American job market has cooled significantly from last year.
The unemployment rate is forecast to stay at a low 4.2 per cent suggesting that employers are stuck in a no-hire, no-fire mode: They are reluctant to add many new workers but don't want to give up the ones they have. But there are signs they may be starting to cut staff.

The US job market has lost momentum this year, partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023 and partly because President Donald Trump's policies, including his trade wars, have created uncertainty that leaves managers reluctant to make hiring decisions.