U.S. Jobs Report Likely To Be Strong: CNN

Markets and economists are expecting another solid jobs report on Friday, Alicia Wallace reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: Last July, the US economy added 568,000 jobs.

The monthly jobs report has in recent months delivered plenty of excitement and its fair share of surprises.

Last July, for example, the US economy added 568,000 jobs — more than double the 250,000 that economists had expected. Come Friday, the government’s jobs report for this July might not end up being quite so shocking.

In fact, it could be relatively humdrum: a slight cooling in job growth, and unemployment holding steady.

“To some extent, our predictions are a little bit boring, which is a good thing,” said Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor. “There are always the risks of unexpected shocks, but right now, we’re on a good glide.”

Zhao’s predictions echo those of economists polled by Refinitiv, who are projecting US employers added 200,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate didn’t budge from the 3.6% registered in June.

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