Agency: The job market is expected to weaken faster than the Fed expects

Samuel Tombs, an analyst at Panson Macro, said the Fed will soon be concerned about "excess labor supply and unwelcome weak wage growth." He said the increase in job openings in the November JOLTS report was surprising, but there are signs that employment costs are cooling. Tombs pointed out that the drop in the quits rate from 2.1% to 1.9% "suggests a larger slowdown in (employment cost) growth." "So, the two consecutive months of 0.4% growth in average hourly earnings look like noise around a trend that is still slowing." Tombs expects average hourly earnings to slow in the December nonfarm payrolls data to be released on Friday. (Jinshi)