Labor Department's Non-Farm Payrolls Report Predicted to Show Increase in Jobs, But Trade Tensions May Continue to Impact Market

Reserve to cut interest rates. The Labor Department's closely watched non-farm payrolls report on Friday is expected to show that non-farm payrolls increased by 185,000 jobs last month after surging by 263,000 in April. The unemployment rate is forecast to remain unchanged at 3.6 percent, near a 50-year low, while average hourly earnings are expected to rise 0.2 percent, slowing from the 0.2 percent increase in April. Economists believe that trade tensions between the U.S. and China, as well as with Mexico, are weighing on job growth and could continue to do so in the coming months. This slow job growth, combined with the steady unemployment rate, may not be enough to sway the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, as some experts had previously predicted. However, the overall economic outlook still remains uncertain as trade tensions continue to impact businesses and the labor market. The Fed will closely monitor the May job report and use it as a key factor in their decision-making process for future interest rate changes. Stay tuned for the full report on Friday to see the impact of these headwinds on the U.S. job market."