The Labor Department released a closely watched report on Friday showing employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of July.
The report said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 114,000 jobs in July after jumping by a downwardly revised 179,000 jobs in June.
Economists had expected employment to rise by 175,000 jobs compared to the surge of 206,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent in July from 4.1 percent in June. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.
With the unexpected increase, the unemployment rate reached its highest level since hitting 4.5 percent in October 2021.
At 10 am ET, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the month of June. Factory orders are expected to tumble by 2.9 percent in June after falling by 0.5 percent in May.