Job creation at the company level rose about in line with expectations in August, despite weakness in manufacturing and construction, according to the latest report from ADP and Moody's Analytics.
Companies added 177,000 positions for the month, just above Wall Street expectations for 175,000.
While the headline number appeared solid, the internals were a bit weaker. All of the new jobs came from services, which added 183,000 positions. Goods-producing industries actually lost 6,000 for the month.
"Broadly speaking, the labor market feels really good," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "All of the internals of the labor market are solid."
The Federal Reserve will likely meet its U.S. inflation and employment goals soon and should consider that quicker interest rate rises over time could stave off risks to the economy such as rising commercial real estate prices, a top Fed policymaker said on Wednesday in China.
In another hint from the U.S. central bank that a policy tightening is on the horizon, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said rate hikes should depend in part on risks to financial stability. He noted that as unemployment has fallen amid record low interest rates, asset prices like commercial real estate "have risen quite dramatically."
With the economy at or near full employment and inflation "edging closer" to a 2 percent target, he said, the Fed's so-called dual mandate "is likely to be achieved relatively soon."
Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on Wednesday said he is increasingly convinced that U.S. economic growth has slowed permanently, a situation that will keep U.S. interest rates low for a long time ahead.
Embracing Harvard Professor Larry Summers' so-called secular stagnation theory, Evans argued that an aging U.S. population and slowing productivity growth mean there is little reason for interest rates to rise either fast or far.
Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Thursday, rebounding on a weaker U.S. dollar after falling around 3 percent or more in the previous session following a surprisingly large build in U.S. crude and distillate stocks last week.
Brent crude futures climbed 10 cents to $46.99 a barrel after settling $1.33 lower, or 2.8 percent, at the previous close.
That came after U.S. crude inventories rose 2.3 million barrels to 1.221 billion barrels in the week to Aug. 26, data from the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday. That compared with analyst expectations of a 921,000-barrel increase.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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