U.S. stock index futures were quiet ahead of the government’s employment situation report, but posted solid gains following its release.
The Labor Department said that overall payroll jobs in August slipped 54,000, but that was better than the consensus forecast of 90,000 lost jobs. June and July numbers were also revised 123,000 higher. A large part of the weakness was from the government sector, which still includes layoffs of temporary Census workers. In contrast, private nonfarm employment continued to rise, gaining 67,000 in August, following a higher revised 107,000 boost in the prior month. Economists called for only a 40,000 advance in private payrolls. Hourly earnings also rose more than expected, climbing 0.3% from up 0.2% in July. Economists were expecting earnings to rise 0.1%. The average workweek was unchanged at 34.2 hours and the unemployment rate inched up to 9.6%, both as expected.
A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management is expected to indicate that the services sector continued to expand in August. The ISM said Wednesday that the manufacturing sector expanded in August at a faster pace than economists forecast. The report is due at 10:00 am ET.
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