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(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures jumped on Friday after data showed stronger-than-expected jobs growth in August but cooling wage increases and a rise in unemployment rate that eased some concerns about inflation.
The Labor Department’s closely watched employment report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 315,000 jobs last month after surging 526,000 in July. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% compared with expectations of 0.4%.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged up to 3.7% from a pre-pandemic low of 3.5%.
While the data bolstered views that the U.S. economy is on a strong footing, it eases some pressure on the Federal Reserve looking to cool down labor demand and the overall economy to bring inflation back to its 2% target.
The slower-than-expected growth in wages adds to recent data that suggests prices pressures were easing, with focus now turning toward the August consumer price report due mid-month for clues on the next rate increase.
“The basic message is labor market might be starting to cool and the Fed might not have to move so aggressively,” said David Page, head of macroeconomic research at AXA Investment Managers.
Traders see a 75% chance of a third straight 75 basis points rate hike in September and expects rates to peak at 3.90% in March 2023.
Fears of aggressive policy tightening have gripped Wall Street recently, with the S&P 500 sliding nearly 5.6% in the last five sessions in the wake of a unanimous hawkish view by policymakers on rate hikes.
All the three main indexes are set for a third straight weekly loss, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 2.9%.
At 8:43 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 151 points, or 0.48%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 21.75 points, or 0.55%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 64.75 points, or 0.53%.
Rate-sensitive technology and growth stocks such as Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) Corp and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) jumped in premarket trading as U.S. Treasury yields slipped after the report.
