With Kevin Warsh’s first meeting as chair of the Federal Reserve coming up in June, investors will turn to US labour market data due on Friday for an insight into how the central bank will react to pressure on the economy from high oil prices.
The most recent readings for non-farm payrolls and the unemployment rate pointed to a US labour market that has shrugged off the Iran war since it began at the end of February, even though soaring oil prices spell deep uncertainty for businesses and consumers around the world.
This strength is expected to have continued in May. Economists polled by Reuters expect the economy to have added 86,000 jobs in the month, a slight deceleration from 115,000 in April but still a “solid” reading, according to analysts at Bank of America.