Weekly Market Recap – September 7, 2026

On the surface, the U.S. labor market remains remarkably strong. The unemployment rate held at just 4.1% in August, lower than it has been 88% of the time over the past 50 years. Yet despite this apparent tightness, wage pressures continue to fade. Average hourly earnings rose just 3.1% over the past year, extending the slowdown in wage growth to its weakest pace in more than five years.