by Calculated Risk on 9/05/2013 09:19:00 PM

Earlier: Employment Situation Preview

And an employment preview from Goldman Sachs:

We expect a 200k gain in nonfarm payrolls in August, modestly above consensus expectations of 180k and in line with the 6- and 12-month moving averages. We expect that the unemployment rate held steady at 7.4% after a two-tenths decline in July, with some risk of a further decline to 7.3%.

Most labor market indicators point to strong employment gains in August. Initial jobless claims have continued to fall, the employment component of the ISM non-manufacturing index posted a large gain, and household reports of job availability improved. In addition, we expect only a small sequester impact. Our forecast of 200k is also broadly in line with our labor market tracker, which summarizes 24 labor market indicators.

Friday:
• 8:30 AM ET, the Employment Report for August. The consensus is for an increase of 175,000 non-farm payroll jobs in August; the economy added 162,000 non-farm payroll jobs in June. The consensus is for the unemployment rate to be unchanged at 7.4 in August.