Analysts at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) note that the U.S. non-farm payrolls surprised on the downside in August, rising a tepid 130k, while the June and July were also marked down.

• “Taking into account temporary hiring for the 2020 census survey, the headline figure for August is overstated. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7% in August. Encouragingly, the participation rate ticked higher to 63.2 last month, signalшng more workers entered the labour force - a good sign for US growth near-term. Average earnings posted a decent 3.4% increase y/y in August.
• Alongside modest inflation, real incomes increased healthily last month. The consumer appears alive and well, at least for now, lessening the chances of a 0.5% Fed funds cut later this month.”