09:02 AM EDT, 09/06/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Over at CIBC, Ali Jaffery said there were many mixed elements in today's U.S. non-farm payrolls report that leaves the Fed call "up in the air", and upcoming Fed speakers insights will provide some clues into how they reading the report.

Jaffery noted the August jobs report showed the labor market continuing to cool. Employment rose by 142K, below consensus expectations of a 165K increase, and there were material downward revisions over the period two months, with -86K net revisions over the prior two months and July payroll gains registering at just 89K. Three month-average payroll gains now stand at 116K as of August, modestly above estimates of long-run break-even rates.

However, Jaffery said, the good news is the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.2%, in line with expectations, and the participation rate stood firm at 62.7%. Prime-age participation was also "very strong again: at 83.9%, indicating a "robust" supply of workers. Wage growth also accelerated to 0.4% m/m, one notch above expectations.