The U.S. Employment Report for July's nonfarm payrolls was a "marginal surprise" and weakness in the labour market could keep the Fed on hold for some time, according to former St. Louis Fed Chief William Poole in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday.
Nevertheless, the former Fed policy maker admitted to having expected a slightly weaker report.
Poole also warned that the U.S. was "gradually building in a longer-run inflation problem that could come to haunt us next year."
Earlier on Friday, U.S. nonfarm payrolls declined for the seventh straight month, falling less than expectations by a total of 51k jobs in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. June's decline was revised to a loss of 51k jobs from an initially reported loss of 62k jobs.
The unemployment rate ticked up two-tenths to 5.7% (5.682%).
Nonfarm payrolls were expected to fall by 75k jobs in the month, with expectations ranging from a flat report to a loss of -150k jobs.
By Erik Kevin Franco with contributions from Patrick McGee and edited by Megan Ainscow
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