Category: World News

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Asia markets combined following massive miss in U.S. jobs knowledge

Asia markets mixed following big miss in U.S. jobs data

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US employment data released on Friday fell far short of expectations as the economy added just 235,000 jobs in August. Economists polled by Dow Jones had sought 720,000 new hires.

Meanwhile, in line with estimates, the unemployment rate fell from 5.4% to 5.2%.

“In our view, the setback in the labor market recovery and the rise in serious Covid infections will cause the FOMC to wait before announcing it will reduce its monthly security purchases. We now expect the FOMC to reduce its monthly security purchases by 10 billion at its November 3rd meeting, “Commonwealth Bank of Australia analysts wrote in a Monday note.

US markets are closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

Currencies and oil

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its competitors, hit 92.164 after falling over 92.4 recently.

The Japanese yen was trading at 109.81 per dollar, stronger than the 110.1 levels seen against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7433 after falling below $ 0.732 last week.

Oil prices were lower on the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude oil futures falling 0.91% to $ 71.95 a barrel. The US crude oil futures fell 0.88% to $ 68.68 a barrel.

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Kentucky Governor: State’s Covid surge is ‘dire’

Kentucky Governor: State's Covid surge is 'dire'

The Democratic governor of Kentucky on Sunday described the spike in Covid cases in the state as “bleak,” pointing out that Republican lawmakers have curtailed their ability to control the record wave of infections there.

“If I had the opportunity to do it now, we would have a masking order for you when you are in public and indoors,” Governor Andy Beshear said on NBC’s Meet the Press news program. “We know this is a proven way to slow the spread of the virus and ultimately support our health capacities.”

Kentucky recorded 4,423 new daily cases on Saturday, a seven-day average, according to a database from the New York Times. The number of deaths and hospitalizations has also increased. “Our situation is dire,” said Mr. Beshear.

The state’s Supreme Court recently ruled that a lower court cannot block attempts by lawmakers to restrict Mr Beshear’s emergency powers to deal with Covid. He had tried to enforce a comprehensive mask mandate in schools.

Mr Beshear has called a special session of the state legislatures on Tuesday to look at the crisis.

The National Guard, FEMA and nursing students have been deployed across the state to help hospitals, Mr Beshear said.

“When you’re at war, you can’t cry about what you can or can’t do,” he said. “You have to do your best every day because this is a life-and-death struggle.”

In the state, 68 percent of people over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine and 58 percent are fully vaccinated, according to a Times database. This puts Kentucky in the middle compared to the vaccination rates in other states.

“We have, I believe, across America far behind the populations who will listen to a government official and take the vaccine because of it,” said Mr Beshear. “We’re probably even past a local official, pastor, or other.”

He attributed some of the state’s vaccine reluctance to misinformation and urged individuals to speak to loved ones in addition to public information campaigns.

“People are going to have to break that Thanksgiving dinner rule,” he said. “You have to call or go to an unvaccinated person whom you love and care for. You will have to jeopardize your relationship with this person because you have never been exposed to greater risk. “

“I think it is this kind of care and the person who is willing to do this and make this sacrifice that finally reaches those who are not vaccinated.”

He added, “You could lose a friend through this conversation, but that friend could lose his life if not vaccinated.”

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Stagflation is the best danger to Europe’s restoration

Stagflation is the greatest risk to Europe’s recovery

Former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti told CNBC on Saturday that he believed the greatest threat to Europe’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic was “stagflation”.

Monti, now president of Bocconi University in Italy, said the “huge bulk” of central banks’ expansionary monetary policies and government fiscal incentives put in place to support economies amid the coronavirus pandemic “could well trigger more inflation.”

At the same time, Monti said there were “a number of restrictions on the flexibility of production” that needed to be increased.

Generally speaking, stagflation is when the rate of inflation is high, but economic growth is slowing and unemployment continues to rise.

The IHS Markit Flash Composite purchasing managers’ index for the euro zone, which tracks activity in manufacturing and services, hit a two-month low of 59.5 in August, compared with 60.2 in July. A value above 50 still means that economic activity is expanding, but many economists have suggested that dynamism in the region may slow down.

Former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti will perform on “Porta a Porta” on October 11, 2018 in Rome, Italy.

Massimo Di Vita | Massimo Di Vita Archive | Mondadori portfolio | Getty Images

There are also concerns about the impact of supply chain problems from Asia affecting manufacturing in Europe, as well as the fact that higher wages could lead to inflationary pressures.

Speaking to CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the European House Ambrosetti Forum on Saturday, Monti said that economies, not just in the EU, may begin to experience elements of “stagflation”, similar to what happened in many countries in the 1970s.

As a result, Monti said it was “very important to manage this transition from a needed abundance of financial and financial support to a simpler situation with caution and in a coordinated manner.”

Preliminary data released on Tuesday showed that inflation in the eurozone hit a 10-year high in August, with consumer prices up 3% year over year.

The European Central Bank will hold its next policy meeting on September 9th to discuss the way forward for its asset purchase program. However, analysts told CNBC earlier this week that they expect the ECB to suspend its announcement of tapering its Covid stimulus measures until December.

– CNBC’s Silvia Amaro contributed to this report.

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Indian vs. Black: Vigilante Killings Upend a South African City

Indian vs. Black: Vigilante Killings Upend a South African Town

Later that day, the family saw pictures and videos of their bloody and seemingly lifeless bodies on social media.

An Indian homeowner in Phoenix, who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation, said he saw the two men on the street long after the attack. They were still alive.

He stopped two police cars, both of which stopped briefly before spinning off. A third police vehicle stopped, called an ambulance, and waited for it to arrive before leaving, he said.

However, the privately owned ambulance only treated the men briefly before leaving them alive on the side of the road, the local resident said. The next day a hearse came to pick her up. Their bodies were cremated, family members said.

A relative, Thulani Dube, said they didn’t deserve to be killed even if they looted.

At the cousins’ funeral, in a tent in a spacious field with brown grass behind a family house in KwaMashu, loved ones cried and boiled, but also thought of the good times: Mlondi, a 28-year-old father of two, just had his celebrated first wedding anniversary. Delani, 41, a world-traveling dance instructor, was preparing for a trip to Russia.

Still, they struggled to understand what had happened – and what it meant for their country.

“I can’t sleep thinking about what I saw in the morgue,” said Mr. Dube, who identified their bodies. “Sometimes the smell fills my nose.”

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Commissioner Gentiloni on EU military after Afghanistan conclusion

Commissioner Gentiloni on EU army after Afghanistan conclusion

Paolo Gentiloni, the EU’s commissioner for economics and taxation, has spoken to CNBC about a need for the bloc to develop on the geopolitical stage as the U.S. and other Western allies take a step back.

“We are an economic superpower but we cannot be completely absent in the geopolitical role,” he told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the European House Ambrosetti Forum on Saturday.

Gentiloni namechecked what he called a “terrible” conclusion to the war in Afghanistan in recent weeks as one example of the U.S. and others reducing their commitments on the global stage. His comments add another voice to the argument that the EU should develop a common defense policy, which many see as a forerunner to a full EU army.

“I think we can coexist very well,” Gentiloni said when asked whether this would be a threat to NATO, whose members include some EU nations.

Undermining NATO is seen as one key reason why the EU has not established its own army, as well as the different levels of defense spending within the bloc. Critics are also wary of further integration within the EU.

“NATO was born and shaped mainly to deter Russia’s presence in Europe, these roles remain absolutely crucial. And I am personally also a strong supporter of NATO,” Gentiloni said.

“What I’m saying is that if the European Union role is growing, if we will have a good economic recovery, if we are trying to be on the lead on the climate transition, and many other aspects of our ambition, we cannot be completely irrelevant and silent on these geopolitical dynamics.”

French Special Forces Soldiers stand guard near a military plane at airport in Kabul on August 17, 2021, as they arrive to evacuate French and Afghan nationals after the Taliban’s stunning military takeover of Afghanistan.

STR | AFP | Getty Images

EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, went one step further this week, telling reporters in Slovenia that the the bloc should create a “first entry force” of 5,000 troops to reduce its dependence on the U.S.

Two EU battlegroups of 1,500 troops were established back in 2007, but they have never been deployed.

“Sometimes there are events that catalyze history, that create a breakthrough, and I think that Afghanistan is one of these cases,” Borrell said, according to Reuters.

Chinese antagonism

When asked about Chinese antagonism and whether the EU would look to face down the Asian superpower as one bloc in the future, Gentiloni said that this could ultimately benefit the U.S.

“There is an economic cooperation [with China], trade cooperation, but we are different systems. It is inevitable that the model of a different capitalism, capitalism that is not connected with democracy, with liberty, is an alternative to the European model,” he said.

“And so forcefully we will be partners with [the] U.S. in this kind of confrontation, but [it’s] also in the U.S. interest if this European partner is also geopolitically stronger and [has] more influence … We always describe Europe as a quiet superpower, Venus and Mars. OK, [the] time is now to give also Venus some geopolitical power.”

Speaking at the same event, France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire agreed that this development of a common defense policy could constitute a new position for Europe.

“There is a need for a new geopolitical approach for Europe,” Le Maire told CNBC at a press conference.

He added that the EU now needs to become a third geopolitical superpower alongside China and the United States.

“This is a my deepest political conviction … let’s open our eyes, we are facing political threats,” he said.

“We cannot rely any more only on the protection of the United States. This is obvious, so we need to be our own protection.”

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Threats and Worry Trigger Afghan Girls’s Protections to Vanish In a single day

Threats and Fear Cause Afghan Women’s Protections to Vanish Overnight

It took Women for Afghan Women to build Afghanistan’s largest network of women protection services – 32 safe houses, family counseling centers and children’s homes in 14 provinces, which have been grown by word of mouth and driven by the high demand for their services.

They began closing their doors within a few days when the Taliban began their lightning advance through Afghan cities on August 6. Most of the shelter’s managers were packing or burning files, packing up a few belongings, and fling with their customers when news arrived that the Taliban were arriving.

A few directors of Safe Houses – not just those affiliated with Women for Afghan Women, but also a handful of other long-established shelters – chose to stay where they were, but remained silent for fear that everything what they said could cause harm to the women in their care. Nobody takes new cases.

“Our accommodations, our women’s protection centers, are gone. It is very unlikely that we can do most of the work we do for women as we did, ”said Sunita Viswanath, co-founder of Women for Afghan Women.

Even before the Taliban came to power, Afghanistan was at the bottom of every list when it comes to protecting women and at the top of the need for safe shelter, counseling and justice that could help keep women safe.

More than half of all Afghan women reported physical abuse and 17 percent reported sexual violence, while nearly 60 percent had forced marriages instead of arranged marriages, according to studies cited by the Afghan Ministry of Women.

Honor killings, child marriages, the payment of a bride price for a woman, and the practice of baad – trafficking young girls to pay the elders’ debts, which is equivalent to selling a child into slavery – still exist in rural areas . Everywhere, harassment of women in the workplace and in public is a constant, as is psychological abuse, according to recent studies.

As the uprising progressed, the first concern of staff at Women for Afghan Women and others who operate similar shelters was what the Taliban might do to punish them. As the country’s ruler in the 1990s, the Taliban fought vehemently against women traveling alone or gathering.

Relatively new examples of Taliban’s behavior are worrying. When the Taliban briefly took over the city of Kunduz in 2015, the operators and customers of the women’s refuge for Afghan women fled when threatening phone calls came in from the insurgents. The shelter manager described being actively hunted and said she got calls from the Taliban saying they would catch her as an example and hang her in the village square.

But it is not just the fear of the Taliban that is terrifying the shelter operators and their customers this time around. Taliban fighters have come to some of the shelters in the past few weeks. Sometimes they destroyed the site and took over the buildings, but there are still no reports of them causing harm to anyone, said Ms. Viswanath, the group’s co-founder.

“As far as I know, none of our employees have been beaten, attacked or killed,” she said.

Much of the concern stems from the waves of prisoners released during the Taliban’s advance. Among them were men detained under the women’s protection laws that have been enacted with Western support over the past 20 years. The former prisoners hold a grudge not only against the female relative who spoke out against them and publicly humiliated her, but also against all who supported these efforts – the directors of the safe house, advisors and lawyers.

A woman from rural Baghlan Province, who spoke on condition of anonymity for receiving death threats, described how she now changes her place to sleep every few nights. She had previously worked with prosecutors to gather evidence of abuse in cases involving women

Updated

9/2/2021, 5:49 p.m. ET

“After conquering the cities, the Taliban released all prisoners. Among those prisoners were some who were sentenced for my work, ”she said. “Now they are threatening me and there is no government or system to go to and take shelter. I only hide in one place or another. “

The shelters have long been targets. For many in Afghanistan’s strictly patriarchal society – not just the Taliban – a woman who is on her own or abandons her family is often viewed as a prostitute. Some see shelters for abused women as a thin panel for brothels.

In the last 15 years, however, despite the societal antagonism towards the protection of women, more and more people have started looking for shelters. Women, often with terrible injuries – broken bones or internal injuries from severe blows – kept knocking on the unmarked gates or ordinary houses where Relief Society groups took in people.

Whether or not these operations continue is firmly in the hands of the Taliban, who are expected to enact their own laws governing the behavior of women. That will leave the former Afghan government’s law on the elimination of violence against women and other protective measures on an uncertain basis.

For the time being, Taliban officials have given assurances that women are allowed to work and, in some cases, travel without the company of a male relative – “as permitted by Sharia law” or Islamic law. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid surprised some when, after other Taliban officials urged Afghan women to stay home temporarily for their own safety, he admitted that many in the ranks of the Taliban could not be trusted to be polite and that they should be educated.

Understanding the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan

Map 1 of 6

Who are the Taliban? The Taliban emerged in 1994 amid the unrest following the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989. They used brutal public punishments, including flogging, amputation and mass executions, to enforce their rules. Here is more about their genesis and track record as rulers.

Who are the Taliban leaders? These are the top leaders of the Taliban, men who for years have been on the run, in hiding, in prison and dodging American drones. Little is known about them or how they plan to rule, including whether they will be as tolerant as they say they are. A spokesman told the Times that the group wanted to forget their past but had some restrictions.

But the Taliban made similar statements after taking control of the capital and most of the country in 1996.

“The explanation was that security wasn’t good and they were waiting for security to get better and then women to have more freedom,” said Heather Barr, assistant director of women’s rights at Human Rights Watch. “But in the years they were in power, of course, that moment never came – and I can promise you that the Afghan women who hear this today think that it will never happen this time either.”

For Mahbouba, a longtime activist who has spent much of her life fighting to protect Afghan women, the picture is not yet clear. But she says she gives the Taliban the benefit of the doubt for now. With her claim that everything must be done according to Sharia law because that is the religion of Afghanistan, she has nothing against it.

But the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia law will also be important, she said.

“We just have to wait and see what happens. The Taliban haven’t really started anything yet – check in in a month, in two months, in six months, ”she said.

Mahbouba, whom the Times identifies by name only to protect her and her organization, oversees a long-standing safe house for women. She hasn’t escaped or closed her doors, but she’s holding back and calibrating what she tells the news media, she said.

When some Taliban recently came into her office and said the women were being held against their will, Mahbouba said she did not let them in but went outside to speak to them.

They told her they heard that “some women are being held here.” She rejected that and instead said she was defending the honor of Afghan women.

“I don’t let them take to the streets to be used and abused by other people; they are the victims of domestic violence, ”she recalls. “So instead of running away and letting you go into prostitution, I have kept your honor and protect you.”

The Taliban appeared to accept this statement, and Mahbouba said she was determined to have a dialogue with them.

But she also made a request: please, she said, “keep watching, and if our world goes crazy and it gets really terrible, we can let people know.”

A New York Times employee contributed to the coverage.

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Italy and Draghi politics: Ambrosetti Discussion board 2021

Italy and Draghi politics: Ambrosetti Forum 2021

Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

FILIPPO MONTEFORTE | AFP | Getty Images

LONDON – As Italy experiences an unusual period of political stability, fears grow that a possible departure of Prime Minister Mario Draghi next year could plunge the country back into chaos.

Valerio De Molli, CEO of the European House Ambrosetti Forum, told CNBC on Thursday that Italy is currently in the midst of a “window of stability”.

He added, however, “The political crisis in Italy is always next door, so I can’t bet on my whole family, but you know we have a window of stability, political institutional stability.”

Italy has seen various government formations in recent years, but the political scene has calmed down significantly since Draghi was appointed Prime Minister in February. The former head of the European Central Bank has managed to win support from both the left and the right political spectrum and is a popular figure among the electorate.

“Mario Draghi leads a coalition government, is able to understand and take into account the different sensitivities of the parties, but at the same time set and achieve goals so that the country understands that we are going a way and making progress,” said Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, chairman of the Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo, told CNBC on Friday.

Italy’s days of stability, however, may be numbered.

“We shouldn’t have a political crisis in the next six to nine months, then we need the election of the President of the Republic,” said De Molli.

Draghi’s name is often mentioned as a potential candidate to replace incumbent President Sergio Mattarella next year. However, if Draghi became president, it would leave a large void at the executive level.

Carlo Cottarelli, former director of the International Monetary Fund, said: “The chances are good” that Draghi will become president.

“At that point this government would collapse and we would have to go to a general election; that is the greatest uncertainty,” Cottarelli told CNBC on Friday at the Ambrosetti Forum. He said it is possible that Draghi will not continue as prime minister beyond early next year.

Ambrosetti’s De Molli said he believed Draghi was best for Italy as prime minister, head of government and in charge of day-to-day operations.

“Honestly, what Draghi is doing is … right for the country,” De Molli told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick. “He’s not for the left or the right, he does what he’s supposed to do.”

In addition to pushing a reformist agenda, Draghi oversees large investments in the country and its Covid vaccination efforts.

On Thursday, Draghi again urged Italians to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as he wants 80% of the people in the country to be vaccinated by the end of September. According to Our World in Data, 70% of Italians have received at least one dose and 61% are fully vaccinated. The nation was among the worst hit by the pandemic.

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Waste From Mine in Angola Kills 12 Downstream in Congo, Minister Says

Waste From Mine in Angola Kills 12 Downstream in Congo, Minister Says

LUANDA, Angola – First the river turned red. Then tons of dead fish swam to the surface. Then thousands of people got sick.

Now 12 people have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in what researchers have called “an unprecedented environmental and human disaster” along the Kasai River, a southern tributary of the mighty Congo River.

Researchers and officials from the Congolese government say the cause was a toxic leak upstream of Angola’s largest diamond mine, operated by Catoca, a joint venture between Endiama, the Angolan state-owned mining company and Russian mining giant Alrosa.

The company admitted in a statement last month that there was a leak from its facility, but said it was just water and sand – nothing toxic.

In addition to the 12 fatalities, around 4,500 people became ill with diarrhea as a result of pollution, affecting nearly a million in total, Eve Bazaiba, the Congolese minister for the environment and sustainable development, said in a press conference Thursday.

“It is a total destruction of ecosystems, especially aquatic biodiversity,” said Ms. Bazaiba, who had traveled to the region.

She said that around July 26th, the people who lived near the water noticed that something strange was happening on the Tshikapa River, which flows north from Angola, where it spells Chicapa, then flows into the Congo and flows into the Kasai.

At first they thought small diamond miners were causing the problem, she said. But then, on July 31, the situation worsened.

“They noticed that there were dead fish. Lots of dead fish – tons and tons of them are floating on the river, ”said Ms. Bazaiba.

A team dispatched to the area reported that two hippos had also died. “Everyone panicked,” she said.

The government warned people not to eat the fish and took water samples to be tested in laboratories in Kinshasa, capital of the Congo. The results came back a week later. The water sample contained heavy metals – nickel and iron – and the pH was incorrect, according to the minister.

“It’s practically sour,” she said. “It sucks the oxygen out of the water. There is no more life. “

Researchers at Kinshasa University’s Congo Basin Water Resources Research Center described the pollution of the Kasai River basin as “an unprecedented environmental and human disaster.” In a report released in mid-August, they said they had tracked the spill from its source since July 15 in Angola’s Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul provinces, and it took 15 days to see the city of Tshikapa at the confluence of the Tshikapa and Kasai rivers . Two million people are at risk, it said.

The immediate aftermath of the disaster, the report says, has included water pollution, poisoning and loss of aquatic fauna and flora, water-borne diseases for local communities, disruption of fishing and shipping activities and lack of access to domestic water services.

It warned that pollution could spread downstream to the stretch of river that runs through the vast metropolis of Kinshasa, one of the most populous in Africa.

Ms. Bazaiba said she hoped the voluminous waters of the Congo – second largest after that of the Amazon – would dilute pollution when it reached the capital, adding that the water is gradually becoming clearer.

The government is now trying to determine the source of the pollution, she said, but must act because it came from a foreign country.

“We don’t know exactly whether it was an accident,” she said, “or whether it was known.”

Ms. Bazaiba said the Angolan government and the company recognized that the pollution was from the Catoca mine. She added that the Congo will seek compensation on the “polluter pays” principle.

But the Angolan government has not commented publicly on this issue. An official from the Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Culture, who was not allowed to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the ministry had not received any official information from the government of the Congo. The official said that the only information the ministry had through the media and the investigation was still ongoing.

An employee of the company, who was not authorized to comment on the matter and who spoke on condition of anonymity, denied that Catoca had confirmed the Congolese government’s allegation that a poison leak had occurred.

The Catoca mine produces three quarters of Angola’s diamonds. One of its owners, the Russian company Alrosa, has tried in recent years to increase sales in the USA.

In a statement last month, the company admitted that there had been a “break in the pipeline that functions as an overflow”. But it was said that only a mixture of sand and water had entered the river. A survey was carried out and “the recorded situation does not pose a threat to the life of the population”.

Catoca did not use the heavy metals described by the Congolese minister, said the company employee.

“No toxic materials may come from the Catoca mine because the mine does not use such materials,” said the employee. “It was a build-up of sand and water, or to be clear, it was mud.”

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Jobs report August 2021 shocker: Solely 235,000 new jobs

Jobs report August 2021 shocker: Only 235,000 new jobs

Job creation in August was a huge disappointment as the economy only added 235,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported on Friday.

Economists polled by Dow Jones had sought 720,000 new hires.

The unemployment rate fell from 5.4% to 5.2%, in line with estimates.

The August total – the worst since January – is linked to heightened fears of the pandemic and the impact that rising Covid cases could have on a largely robust recovery. The weak report could tarnish the Federal Reserve’s policy as it weighs whether to withdraw some of the massive stimulus it has added since the outbreak in early 2020.

“The recovery in the job market slowed this month with a dramatic showdown in all industries,” said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at Glassdoor. “Ultimately, the wave of the Delta variant is a hard reminder that the pandemic is still in the driver’s seat and controlling our economic future.”

Leisure and hospitality jobs, which were the main driver of the overall gains at 350,000 per month for the past six months, stalled in August as the industry’s unemployment rate rose to 9.1%.

Instead, professional and business services resulted in 74,000 new jobs. Other winners included transportation and warehousing (53,000), private education (40,000), and manufacturing and other services, each increasing by 37,000.

The retail sector lost 29,000, with the bulk of it coming from food and beverage stores which saw a 23,000 decline.

“The weaker employment activity is likely both a demand and a supply story – companies have stopped hiring in the face of weaker demand and uncertainty about the future, while workers have withdrawn for health reasons,” said the Bank of America economist. Joseph Song, in a message to customers.

According to the report, the US is seeing around 150,000 new Covid cases daily, raising concerns that the recovery could stall until the latter part of the year.

“Delta is the story in this report,” said Marvin Loh, global macro strategist for State Street. “It’s going to be a bumpy rebound in the job market and one that is pushing back against a more optimistic narrative.”

During the month, the number of those who said they could not work due to a pandemic rose by about 400,000, bringing the total to 5.6 million.

“Today’s job report reflects a sharp decline in employment growth, likely due to the increasing impact of the delta variant of COVID-19 on the US economy, although August is also a notoriously difficult month due to the holidays, to be precise investigate, ”said Tony Bedikian. Head of Global Markets at Citizens.

Still, the news wasn’t all bad for Jobs.

There have been significant upward revisions over the past two months, with the grand total now standing at 1.053 million in July, up from the original estimate of 943,000, while June was raised from 938,000 to 962,000. In the two months, the revisions added 134,000 to the initial counts.

Wages also continued to accelerate, increasing by 4.3% year-on-year and 0.6% on a monthly basis. Estimates had been 4% and 0.3%, respectively.

An alternative measure of unemployment, which includes discouraged workers and part-time workers for economic reasons, fell sharply, falling from 9.6% in July to 8.9% in August.

The employment rate remained unchanged at 61.7% and was thus still well below the 63.3% in February 2020, the month before the pandemic was declared.

Employment also remained well below pre-Covid levels, with 5.6 million fewer employees and the total workforce still 2.9 million fewer.

Another key metric from the Fed, the employment-to-population measure, was 58.5%, a tenth of a percentage point more than in July, but still well below the pre-pandemic 61.1%. The measurement looks at the total number of employed persons compared to the population of working age.

August numbers have been volatile in recent years and are often revised significantly. You come amid other positive signs of employment.

Weekly unemployment reports have fallen to their lowest level since the early days of the pandemic in March 2020, but a large employment gap remains.

It’s not that there aren’t enough jobs: Recruiting firm Indeed estimates there are currently about 10.5 million open positions, a loose record for the U.S. job market. ZipRecruiter saw strong gains in job postings in the travel, arts & entertainment, and education sectors on Friday, suggesting broadly these sectors should see strong gains in the future.

Fed officials are closely monitoring job numbers for clues as to whether they can withdraw some of the political aid they have given since the pandemic began.

For the past few weeks, central bankers have been optimistic about the employment situation, but said they must see continued strength before changing course. What is at stake for now is the Fed’s massive monthly bond purchase program, which could be scaled back before the end of the year.

However, if the job data softens, it could lead Fed officials to wait until 2022 before scaling back their purchases. Fed officials have made it clear that rate hikes will come well after the taper starts.

“I still expect them to taper by the end of the year,” said Loh of State Street. “Maybe some of the more aggressive talks about something that happened in September are off the table. I think November is still a possibility.”

The Fed will next meet on September 21-22.

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Japan’s Chief Is Stepping Down. Right here’s Who Would possibly Exchange Him.

Japan’s Leader Is Stepping Down. Here’s Who Might Replace Him.

TOKYO — When Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced on Friday that he would not seek re-election as head of Japan’s governing party, the decision created an unexpected opening to replace him.

The winner of a party leadership contest later this month will be a shoo-in to become the next prime minister. But it’s a job that may have few takers.

Mr. Suga leaves the Liberal Democratic Party facing its biggest crisis in over a decade. Japan’s vaccine rollout started slowly. Coronavirus case counts are at their highest levels of the pandemic. The economic recovery has been tepid. And the government has failed to articulate a clear path forward.

The public is angry “about the way that Covid-19 and its economic effects have been handled,” said Michael Cucek, an assistant professor of Asian studies at Temple University’s Japan campus.

There’s little chance that the L.D.P. will lose power, but it is almost certain to see its majority diminished, he said. That means that, as the party decides who will replace Mr. Suga, the priority is finding someone who can “stanch the bleeding.”

With rank-and-file party members afraid for their prospects in the lower house elections that are likely to be held next month, many will want to “take this opportunity to change the image of the L.D.P.,” said Jiro Yamaguchi, a professor of political science at Hosei University in Tokyo.

Standing in the way of that desire, however, are the entrenched interests of the party’s elite, who will be reluctant to hand power to a new generation, he said.

The outcome of the party election is likely to hinge, as always, on the results of horse trading and back-room deals among the various internal factions led by those insiders. Here are some of the candidates they are likely to consider.

Credit…Pool photo by Philip Fong

So far, only one person has officially announced an intention to run: Fumio Kishida, a former foreign minister. During a news conference on Tuesday outlining his platform, he sought to draw a bright line with Mr. Suga, pledging a more transparent and accountable style of government that would get the coronavirus firmly under control by early next year.

Mr. Kishida, 64, is a party insider, educated at the elite Waseda University, for whom politics is a family business: He got his start working in the office of his father, who represented the city of Hiroshima.

Over his years in politics, Mr. Kishida has held a wide range of cabinet positions and important roles in the L.D.P., but he is best known as the long-serving foreign minister under Shinzo Abe, Mr. Suga’s predecessor. He also briefly served as defense minister.

Last year, when Mr. Abe stepped down, Mr. Kishida was his favored successor. But rival factions within the L.D.P. opposed the pick, and Mr. Suga emerged as a compromise candidate.

Although Mr. Kishida seems the most likely choice of the old guard, Mr. Abe and other party grandees have not yet indicated whom they will support.

Mr. Kishida is unpopular among backbench lawmakers. “If the rank-and-file members are obedient to these bosses, then Mr. Kishida will get enough votes to replace Mr. Suga,” Mr. Yamaguchi, the political science professor, said. But if those members insist that the party needs a makeover, Mr. Abe and others will have to look elsewhere.

Credit…Koji Sasahara/Associated Press

If the L.D.P. is looking for a new face, it might turn to Sanae Takaichi, a conservative who is a darling of the Japanese right wing.

A former minister of internal affairs and telecommunications, Ms. Takaichi, 60, said on Friday that she would be interested in running for the top job, taking the opportunity to draw a contrast with Mr. Suga by dressing him down for what she called his indecisive leadership.

“She’s very conservative, and she tries to present herself as the idol of the right wing or conservative camp in the L.D.P., the true believers,” Mr. Yamaguchi said, adding that many in the party would be happy to line up behind her.

That said, Ms. Takaichi has no faction of her own, so she would need to clear the hurdle of getting 20 L.D.P. lawmakers to endorse her before she could run. The party, which has governed Japan for most of the postwar era, has never had a female leader.

“The Japanese public wants to see a female prime minister, but in the inside-party struggle, she has no base,” said Lully Miura, a political scientist and head of the Yamaneko Research Institute in Tokyo.

If Ms. Takaichi enters the race, Ms. Miura said, “she’s running in this election to become the top female candidate in the future,” hoping that the profile boost would give her an edge in the next leadership race.

Credit…Charly Triballeau/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Mr. Ishiba, 64, is a former defense minister popular among the public but disliked by L.D.P. lawmakers for his abrasive, populist style.

He twice ran against Mr. Abe, nearly beating him in the 2012 election, and was one of the leading contenders for Mr. Suga’s job during last year’s contest.

Mr. Ishiba has said he will take another shot at seizing the reins of the party, but it is not clear who would support him. Mr. Abe reportedly still holds a grudge against him, and the other faction leaders actively worked to foil him last year.

“He’s a borderline case in terms of a candidate. He can probably get the 20 signatures, but he’s not particularly well liked by the Diet members,” said Mr. Cucek of Temple University, referring to the Japanese Parliament.

Still, Ms. Miura argued that Mr. Ishiba may be the best positioned to challenge Mr. Kishida. Local party members, she said, are fans. “They want to win their election, and in order to win their election, they want the candidate that can win,” she said.

Credit…Kazuhiro Nogi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Mr. Kono, 58, is a popular, charismatic figure with the right policy experience to be the next prime minister. But his current position as the minister in charge of the vaccine rollout could make it tough for him to win.

That’s partly because it will be hard for him to avoid responsibility for Japan’s missteps and partly because many will argue that he should be devoting his time and energy to combating the current crisis, not politicking.

But if Mr. Kono jumps in — he said on Friday that he was consulting with colleagues about the possibility — he could shake up the election. With a widely followed Twitter account and an easy, relatable style that contrasts with the traditional wooden affect of many Japanese politicians, he is seen as a leading contender to usher in a generational shift in the L.D.P.

“He’s well known for saying the right things to powerful politicians. So he is regarded as a brave challenger to old-style politics,” Mr. Yamaguchi said.

But the party might be better off having him wait to run until after the pandemic, when he would have an easier time marshaling support, Ms. Miura said.

If the party leadership lines up behind him during this election, it will be a sign that it is very worried about the L.D.P.’s political prospects, she said, adding, “He’s the last resort.”

Hisako Ueno, Makiko Inoue and Hikari Hida contributed reporting.