Prometheus 6

The Lowdown on the Slowdown

Hiring was tepid in August, bringing average job creation in the private sector to 102,000 jobs a month since April. That is nowhere near the level of labor demand that’s needed to give employees the clout to bargain for raises. Accordingly, hourly wages weakened in August, up only one-tenth of a percent, all of which is most likely to be eaten up by inflation. (In 26 of the last 28 months, annual hourly wage growth has failed to outpace inflation.)

Sounds depressing — if you rely on your job to get by. But it was good news for investors. Their biggest hope these days is that the economy will slow just enough to curb inflation, but not enough to provoke recession. They took August’s jobs report, released yesterday by the Labor Department, as evidence that their wish was coming true.