The newest data showing labor market weakness puts at loggerheads both sides of the Fed’s dual mandate to maintain stable prices and ensure maximum employment.
The U.S. has expanded payrolls by just 598,000 in 2025, the slowest increase of any year since the pandemic. Meanwhile, inflation, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures price index minus food and energy prices, edged up in July to 2.9%, well above the Fed’s 2% inflation target. READ MORE