The monthly jobs report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics will be released today for the month of October. The data comes amid a distorted report for September on account of the hurricanes.

In September, BLS data showed that the US economy lost 33,000 jobs during the month. On the other hand, the decline in the jobs report helped to push the average hourly earnings strongly. Wages were seen rising 0.5% on the month. No changes were reported to the US unemployment rate which remained steady at 4.2%.

Following the decline of jobs in September, economists polled are forecasting that the US economy rebounded, adding 311k jobs for October. However, this strong forecast comes with the average hourly earnings falling. Wages are expected to rise just 0.2% in October, and the US unemployment rate is expected to remain steady for the previous month as well.

The October payrolls data is likely to suggest that the impact of the hurricanes were short-lived and thus the underlying employment rate and the pace of economic recovery remain untouched. The average hourly earnings for the year is expected to slip from 2.9% that was registered in September to around 2.6% or 2.5% in October.

Strong GDP (preliminary) print already a boost for the US dollar

The payrolls data comes amid last week’s preliminary GDP report. Data showed that the US economy expanded at a pace of 3.0% in the three months ending September. This marked the best six-month growth in over three years and comes despite the disruptions to the economy in September.

Driven by consumer spending and business, GDP continued to grind at a steady pace. In the previous quarter, at final revision, data showed that the GDP expanded 3.1%. Household purchases of durable goods showed a picked up with an increase in business investment in equipment as well. Consumers pushed the spending to 8.3% at an annual rate. This was higher than the previous quarter’s print of 7.6%.

Tax Cuts?

President Trump is also expected to make an announcement on the proposed tax cuts. This was clearer after last week, the US House of Representatives managed to push through to make way for deeper tax cuts. The tax reforms have been one of the biggest talking points for Trump right through the campaign trail.