Jobs report expected to show weakness in labor market

The August report due out Friday morning will be the first since President Donald Trump fired a top Labor Department official over accusations of releasing inaccurate data.

The federal government will release data Friday morning that experts say is unlikely to allay concerns about a slowdown in the jobs market.

Analysts estimate the U.S. added 75,000 jobs in July, which would be a slight improvement from the 73,000 in June. However, it would put the year-to-date total at 672,000, barring revisions, down from more than 1.1 million during the same period last year.

“The U.S. economy appears to have stagnated” since July, analysts with Citi said in a note this week. They cited a separate survey from the Federal Reserve released Wednesday that showed little to no increase in economic activity or employment over the past several weeks.