The slowdown in job growth in August is likely to spoil the case for the Federal Reserve to start reversing its easy-money policies at its next policy meeting, but steady hiring could still lead officials to begin reducing their bond purchases later this year.
At their most recent meeting on July 27-28, Fed officials indicated they were on track to begin scaling back their easy-money policies later this year. A strong July employment report in the days that followed led some reserve bank presidents to call for the Fed to reduce, or taper, its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases at its meeting this month.
