August jobs data: There’s ‘no smoking gun’ for Fed

The August jobs report came in weaker than expected, adding 142,000 jobs versus the 165,000 economists had anticipated. Wells Fargo Investment Institute Global Market Strategist Gary Schlossberg joins Morning Brief to discuss his economic outlook following this report.

Schlossberg notes that currently there is “no smoking gun” to determine the size of the Federal Reserve’s rate cut based on this jobs report, although he believes “we’re still on track for a soft landing.” However, he emphasizes that more data is needed and he wouldn’t “rule out a recession at this point.”

“For now at least there are clear indications that the market is softening around the edges. Job openings have been declining… The underemployment numbers seem to reflect a reluctance to outright lay workers off. So all this to us points to a shallow employment cycle as we go through what we think will be a soft landing,” Schlossberg told Yahoo Finance.

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This post was written by Angel Smith