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Aug. 7, 2026 at 6:52am ET
Jobs Report Today: Stock Futures Tick Higher, Oil Rises
July employment data set to offer clues as to Fed's next move
It's jobs Friday, and today's a big one.
The Labor Department will release its latest employment report today, and economists are expecting it to show that the U.S. economy added 83,000 jobs in July. That would be up from the 57,000 added in June and just slightly lower than the 92,000 average in the first half of this year.
The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.2%.
This month’s report is an important one, as investors anxiously await clues for what the Fed might do when it convenes next month. Traders are roughly divided, assigning a 55% chance to a quarter-point rate hike, CME Group data show.
U.S. stock futures are ticking higher ahead of the report’s release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Treasury yields are largely flat. Gold is continuing to climb.
Meanwhile, oil prices are rising modestly, with Brent crude futures around $83 a barrel, as investors await updates from the Iran-Oman talks on managing traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
— By Caitlin McCabe
Read Original at WSJ →