September's weaker-than-expected job report of 142,000 jobs has put another hold on the Fed interest rate hike, economists say, especially in addition to the previous estimates of gains in August and July having been revised lower.
"The business cycle has lost a lot of wind out of its sails," Tufts University economics professor Brian Bethune says. "It is just not the time to start a tightening cycle." Now December is seeing a less than one-third chance of a hike, Brian says.
PNC Bank senior macroeconomist Gus Faucher agrees, saying the recent news "rules out October" and "puts December in question." Before the jobs report hit, PNC was expecting a December rate hike. And if job growth slows to 150,000 per month, a rate hike may not happen until 2016, Faucher adds. [MW]
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