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A critical jobs report and earnings from some of the nation's largest corporations await investors in the week ahead as the outlook for a soft landing in the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation is once again put to the test.
Pay and benefits increased 1 percent, down from 1.2 percent in the first three months of the year. The cooling will be welcomed by policymakers who have been worried that rapidly rising wages could make it harder to get inflation under control.
The U.S. economy surprisingly accelerated to a 2.4% annual growth rate from April through June, showing continued resilience in the face of steadily higher interest rates resulting from the Federal Reserve's 16-month-long fight to bring down inflation.
The reading on gross domestic product was bolstered by consumer spending, showing that recession forecasts early in the year were premature, at least.
The resilience of the economy has surprised many economists who thought that high inflation would lead to a recession, or at least a clear slowdown in the first half of the year.