Is the US job market beginning to weaken? Friday’s employment report may provide hints

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tentative signs have begun to emerge that the U.S. economy is cooling in a way that would be welcomed by the Federal Reserve’s inflation fighters: Companies are posting fewer available jobs, consumer spending has slipped and wage growth, while still healthy, is gradually slowing. Those trends mark a contrast from the start of the year, when hiring was robust and Americans were still spending at a healthy clip — trends that helped keep elevated inflation stickier than the Fed wanted. Yet with the economy no longer accelerating, economists and financial markets have begun to worry about the opposite scenario: What if the economy weakens more than is needed to cool inflation? Could it eventually turn into a recession?