Friday’s fresh labor market data probably offered little to dissuade them from raising interest rates at their meeting later this month. The June data is the last payrolls report officials will receive before the central bank’s July 25-26 meeting. It underscored many of the labor market themes that have been present for months: While job growth is gradually slowing, wage growth remains abnormally quick and the unemployment rate is very low at 3.6 percent. Investors widely expect the Fed to raise rates at their July meeting, and Friday’s data only reinforced that prediction. But several policymakers have been clear that even as the pace moderates, they still expect to raise interest rates further.

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Persons: ” Lorie K, Logan, ” Organizations: Fed, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, ” Fed