By Ann Saphir
July 5 – Federal Reserve policymakers got more evidence of U.S. labor-market cooling on Friday that could boost their confidence they are winning their fight on inflation, and open the path to a more active debate on interest-rate cuts when they next meet in late July.
The Labor Department report showing a rise in unemployment and a decline in job creation is just the latest in a string of recent data offering more evidence of slowing than what U.S. central bankers had in hand at their June meeting.
At that time, many of them felt inflation progress was so lacking and the economy still so strong that they would likely cut rates only once this year, if at all.
Since then, the data has marched in the opposite direction. A couple of inflation reports have shown prices did not rise at all from April to May; other reports have signaled a slump in services and manufacturing activity and rising job openings and layoffs.
