America In Focus: US hiring bounces back in August; mortgage rates climb

The economy, inflation and how those forces could impact the lives of Americans were front and center over the past week. Trips to the grocery store and gas station are more painful than they were last year, and rising costs are impacting the decisions of both households and businesses.

Here’s a snapshot of prominent economic data and news that occurred over the past week and what it potentially means for you.

US hiring bounces back strongly in August

The U.S. job market rebounded in August as employers added a surprising 162,000 jobs, which far exceeded the 65,000 that economists had expected.

Two months before the midterm elections, President Donald Trump welcomed the strong hiring report Friday. “Great jobs number just announced, breaking all estimates (except mine!) by double and triple – And you haven’t seen anything yet!” he wrote in a social media post.

But inflation has dominated conversations this year in business and households. Voters are increasingly frustrated by higher costs, particularly fuel prices that have hit record levels since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

And meager pay raises have made rising prices more painful for many. Average hourly wages rose 3.1% last month from a year earlier, the weakest year-over-year increase since May 2021.

U.S. job openings rise slightly

Employers posted slightly more job openings in July as the American labor market remained sturdy in the face of higher costs that are squeezing household budgets.

U.S. job openings ticked up to 7.27 million in July from a revised 7.18 million in June, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

The department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also showed that layoffs fell. But so did the number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects.

The American job market is hardly booming, but it is ambling along despite an energy shock caused by the fighting with Iran that has squeezed family budgets.

Gas prices continue to soar into travel heavy Labor Day weekend

Diesel hit a record price in the U.S., soaring to an average of $5.85 a gallon for the first time Friday as the six-month war with Iran disrupts the world’s flow of fuel. Holiday travelers will pay more than they every have over Labor Day weekend for gasoline, which remains well above $4 per gallon.

But it’s not just holiday travelers likely to feel the pinch. Higher diesel prices mean higher transportation costs for a long list of essential goods. Some businesses have already passed on costs to consumers in the form of added fees on online orders and packages in the mail. Shoppers may experience more sticker shock has higher shipping costs trickle down to store shelves.

One of the most immediate strains is being felt in the grocery aisle, particularly with produce, meat and other perishable foods that need to be hauled in and restocked frequently.

Nvidia spends $13 billion on Hugging Face, the target of AI hack

Chipmaker Nvidia is buying artificial intelligence software platform Hugging Face for $13 billion.

In July, Hugging Face’s data processing systems were hacked, and ChatGPT maker OpenAI acknowledged that its artificial intelligence system was to blame, sending shock waves through the security community amid heightened concerns about the capabilities of powerful AI models.

Just over a week later, Anthropic said its artificial intelligence models hacked into three other organizations during testing. That was followed closely by an announcement from Meta, which said its AI model accessed the internet on its own and hacked another company.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that Hugging face will remain an open platform. He signaled that Nvidia is betting that more businesses will turn to open-source AI, which lets them download and customize their own AI models, rather than pay for proprietary AI services from companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

Average rate on 30-year mortgage at highest level in over a year

Mortgage rates rose again this week, driving the average long-term U.S. home loan rate to its highest level in more than a year.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.71% from 6.66% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.50%.

Higher mortgage rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting homebuyers’ purchasing power. As rates rise, that can lead prospective home shoppers to delay buying a home, one reason U.S. home sales remain in a rut this year.

Stocks wobble after a surprisingly strong jobs report

U.S. stocks mostly fell and Treasury bond yields rose to end the week after the monthly U.S. jobs report revealed a surprise burst in hiring in August that may free up the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates in its fight against inflation.

The tech sector relies on lax monetary policy for credit and any increase in the U.S. benchmark rate would make expansion more costly. Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft all pointed lower Friday.

The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite struggled to finish the week positive.