US employers added 173,000 jobs in August, below market estimates of 217,000, according to the US Labor Department. Unemployment dropped to 5.1%, the lowest rate since March 2008 and below the 5.2% rate expected. There were also 44,000 of upward revisions to the previous two months’ figures. Employment in mining and manufacturing declined, while education and health services added over one third of the new jobs. Richmond Fed president Jeffrey Lacker , a voting member of the FOMC and a known “hawk” said prior to the release the figures were unlikely to “materially alter the labour market picture or, for that matter, the monetary policy outlook.” But he added, “Waiting too long to begin raising rates could require a more dramatic increase in rates to restrain inflation pressures once they have become apparent in the data.” Opinions are divided as to whether the US Federal Reserve will leave official rates unchanged or raise them for the first time in almost ten years when the FOMC meets on 16 Sep.
