Last month’s job numbers mean there won’t be an increase in borrowing costs yet – and policymakers should heed the signs of possible recession
Wall Street drew two conclusions from the news that the US jobs engine shifted down into a lower gear last month. The first – that a September increase in interest rates is now a non-starter – was almost certainly right.
Putting up the cost of borrowing so close to the presidential election in early November always looked like an outside bet. It would have taken thunderously good figures for job creation to have persuaded the more dove-ish policymakers at the Federal Reserve to move, and the ones released on Friday were average at best.