Jobs Gain Mediocre. Unemployment Rate down.

BLS Employment Situation Report  (August 2015)

 
– Nonfarm Payrolls month/month  +173,000.  With revisions to previous two months net gain was 217,000
– Unemployment Rate 5.1%. Previous was 5.3%
– Labor Participation Rate   62.6%. Previous was 62.6%.
– Average Hourly Earnings month/month  +0.3%. Previous was +0.2%
– Average  Workweek  34.6 hours. Previous was 34.5 hours.

Headline jobs gain was a weak +173,000 but with the corrections to the two previous months the net was a mediocre +217,000.  The Unemployment Rate fell, in part because, 41,000 people left the Labor Force.

If all that the FOMC were looking at was the Unemployment Rate and CPI then a hike would be justified.  With the world economic situation being as weak as it is a rate hike would harm almost everyone else.