US stock investors could be feeling jittery this week following the worse weekly performance for the Nasdaq and S&P 500 since early August.
As of Friday’s close, though, the Nasdaq has climbed 2.9% so far in September, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.8%, and the Dow has advanced 1.5%.
August’s employment report, due out on Friday, is expected to be closely scrutinized by Wall Street. The data is expected to show non-farm payrolls rose by 39,000 in September, after an increase of 22,000 the previous month.
The unemployment rate for September is forecast to be 4.3%.
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates this month for the first time in 2025 on concerns of labor market weakness. Thus, further confirmation of a slowdown in employment growth in September could boost investor optimism of two more rate reductions this year and possibly more in 2026.
“Although there is a near 90% chance of a rate cut in October, the September jobs data will be watched closely to ratify the view that the US labor market is cooling down, and interest rate cuts are justified,” Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, wrote in a note published on Monday.
That said, the potential for a US government shutdown might prevent the employment report from being released as scheduled on Friday.
Congressional Democrats and Republicans need to come to an agreement to fund the government and avoid a partial shutdown, which is set to take effect at 12:01 AM EDT on Wednesday.
The Republicans were able to agree on a funding bill earlier this month, however, this was blocked by Senate Democrats who sought more generous healthcare funding.
Tuesday also marks the end of the third quarter, with the benchmark S&P 500 on pace for its best third-quarter performance since 2020.
Also on Tuesday, will be the release of the Conference Board’s consumer confidence reading for September, expected to come in at 95.8 compared with 97.4 previously.