MNI: US Aug Hiring Slowed by Vacations- St Louis Fed Economist

U.S. hiring likely slowed in August as people opted to take vacation, according to a St. Louis Fed analysis of high-frequency data from scheduling software company Homebase.

"Data shows a mild negative evolution over the last few weeks," St. Louis Fed economist Max Dvorkin told MNI, though he did not produce an actual employment forecast this month. "Much of this evolution is driven by vacation and time off for workers between mid-July and mid-August."

It's not yet clear how much the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 is impacting employment, Dvorkin said. Other data from workforce manager Kronos was again excluded from this month's calculation, mostly because of its vulnerability to summer seasonality.