US - Labour market grinds to a halt, September cut inevitable
Rogier Quaedvlieg
Non-farm payrolls gained a mere 22k, well below consensus forecasts of 75k. The most hotly anticipated labour market report in at least a year released on time after a BLS statement flagging technical issues ahead of the release. Private payrolls gained 38k, supported by the usual education, health care and leisure sectors, while manufacturing lost 12k jobs, and federal government employment fell by 15k. The three month moving average dropped from 35k to 29k. Along with the weak job gains there was a decline in average weekly hours, another indication of weakening demand.
