By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy likely maintained a moderate pace of job growth in September while the unemployment rate is expected to have held steady at 4.
2%, which would further reduce the need for the Federal Reserve to deliver large interest rate cuts in its final two meetings of the year. The labor market, however, is likely to experience some brief turbulence after Hurricane Helene devastated large swathes of the U.S.
Southeast last week. Tens of thousands of machinists at Boeing also went on strike in September, with ripple effects on the aerospace company's suppliers. A work stoppage by about 45,000 dockworkers on the East Coast and Gulf Coast ended late on Thursday after their union and port operators reached a tentative deal.
The Boeing strike, if it persists beyond next week, could depress the nonfarm payrolls data for October, which will be released just days before the Nov. 5 U.S.
presidential election. Nonetheless, the tone of the Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday is expected to remain consistent with a jobs market that is losing momentum in an orderly fashion. Wage growth is forecast to have remained solid, continuing to support the overall economic expansion.
The U.S. central bank's Federal Open Market Committee kicked off its policy easing cycle with an unusually large half-percentage-point rate cut last month and Fed Chair Jerome Powell emphasized growing concerns over the health of the labor market.
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