(NewsNation) — Economists and investors are anxiously awaiting the release of the July jobs report, which could provide another indication of whether the U.S. is in or headed toward a recession.
The Labor Department data is due out Friday and is expected to show a slowing in hiring, with estimates at 250,000 jobs last month. While that’s a healthy number in normal times, that would be the lowest since December 2020, when the coronavirus was wreaking havoc on the global economy.
The White House has sought to downplay any fears of a recession, historically defined as two consecutive quarterly declines in gross domestic product, a threshold that was met last month. President Joe Biden and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have both doubted the U.S. is in a recession, citing the strong labor market.
Ahmed Riesgo, chief investment officer for Insigneo Financial Group, and James Iuorio, trader, broker and macro analyst, joined NewsNation’s “Rush Hour” on Thursday to preview the jobs report and break down the current state of the economy.