Live updates: Markets await jobs report as geopolitical tensions, strikes fallout and a hurricane rattle the US economy | CNN Business

The Federal Reserve’s recent half-point cut will take some time to work through the system, Noah Yosif, chief economist and head of research at the American Staffing Association, told CNN.

“Just because the Federal Reserve votes to decrease interest rates in September does not mean that employers are going to see lower costs in October,” he said, adding that it could take three to six months to filter through to businesses.

More rate cuts are expected for later this year, but the extent will depend on the health of the labor market, and that outlook could be quite murky due to impact from the strikes and Hurricane Helene.

Fed officials, who are scheduled to make the central bank’s next interest rate decision just days after the October jobs report lands, will do their best to look through the noise and what are likely idiosyncratic factors, said Ryan Sweet at Oxford Economics.

Ejindu Ume, associate professor of economics at Miami University in Ohio, told CNN: “We’re already seeing mixed data in terms of weakness and the strength of the labor market, but these new developments could put more risk into the system: more risk of people being laid off, more risk of the unemployment rate continuing to pick up. So that makes the Fed’s job even more challenging.”