September Jobs Report Lands Friday With Real Wages Already Shrinking

Three numbers set the table for Friday's Employment Situation, and the third one is the story nobody is pricing. Payrolls rebounded to 162,000 in August, the biggest gain since last fall, and June plus July were revised up by a combined 55,000. Initial claims printed 197,000 for the week ended September 19, close to the lowest levels in over five decades. And yet average hourly earnings rose just 3.1 percent over the year through August, while the Consumer Price Index climbed 3.4 percent over the same stretch. For the first time in this cycle, the typical private-sector worker's paycheck is losing to inflation, and that arithmetic is what makes the September report, due Friday, October 2 at…