A closely watched update on the state of the US labor market will mark a powerful test of financial markets’ mettle. It will book-end a busy week of data releases that showed inflation has accelerated more than economists anticipated and the Federal Reserve pushed back on interest rate expectations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is expected to report that nonfarm payrolls added 110,000 jobs in July, marking a slowdown from the rise of 147,000 recorded in the previous month. An outcome in line with expectations would mark the smallest increase since February. The unemployment rate is seen ticking higher to ... (full story)