US July employment report: Slightly weaker than expected but the trend remains upbeat

Key points: US job gains eased somewhat in early Q3 with NFP increasing by + 157K compared to +248K in June. Yet, p ast months numbers were revised upward (+59K) and the three-month trend remains solidly anchored above 200K. The rest of the report was as expected: The unemployment rate lost one-tenth to 3.9% with a stable participation rate . Wages kept growing at 2.7% on a yearly basis. In short, today’s number is hardly a game changer and the Fed should proceed with another rate hike in September.