John Ydstie

The jobs report released Friday morning came in a little weaker than expected, but there was one very big positive. Wages are growing at a respectable clip again, and that's the first time that's happened on an annual basis since the recession.

Economists expect the report to show about 175,000 new jobs created last month.

Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump talk about increasing opportunities for coming generations. Some analysts say boosting economic growth would help, but the way there is complicated.

Many economists say stronger growth is a reliable path toward boosting opportunity. But they also agree that many Americans are not ready to face the trade-offs that come with a more dynamic economy.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen says that although job growth is rebounding, she sees no inflation threat and no hurry to raise rates. The Fed is not likely to do so before the presidential election.

Household incomes were up sharply in 2015, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Median family income climbed 5.2 percent to $56,516 a year. That's the biggest increase in nearly 50 years.

Productivity, a key measure of the economy's health, has been growing more slowly in recent years. Can Facebook and other social media distractions on the job be partly to blame?

Employers added 151,000 jobs in August, which is somewhat disappointing. Most economists were expecting about 180,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate held at 4.9 percent for the third straight month. Many analysts are now saying job growth is slow enough to keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates in September.

The Labor Department releases its August jobs report on Friday. Most economists predict a net increase of 180,000 jobs — a good number that likely will allow the unemployment rate to tick lower.

The Justice Department and a number of states filed suit today to block two big mergers in the health insurance industry. Anthem was planning to acquire Cigna, and Aetna sought to buy Humana. Justice Department officials said they had no doubt the mergers would reduce competition and hurt consumers.

Fueled by customers' unquenchable thirst for the next great flavor note, the craft beer industry has exploded like a poorly fermented bottle of home brew.

Under the terms of the nearly $15 billion deal announced on Tuesday, Volkswagen will spend up to $10 billion to fix or buy back cars of nearly 500,000 owners.

Two-thirds of the sum will be set aside to compensate U.S. owners of nearly 500,000 VW diesel cars. The company will also pay $2.7 billion into an environmental remediation fund.

The Labor Department says in May, employers added just 38,000 workers to payrolls. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast the report would show 158,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent, but only because so many people dropped out of the workforce. Forecasters had expected the unemployment rate to hold steady at 5 percent.

Job growth was at a crawl in May, according to the government's monthly report released Friday; only 38,000 new jobs were added to payrolls. But unemployment fell to it's lowest level since 2007.

On Friday, the Labor Department releases May's jobs report. It's the final report before the Federal Open Market Committee's next meeting, at which some expect the federal funds rate will be raised.

Under a Moody's model, Hillary Clinton beats Donald Trump. The oldest model picks the GOP nominee to win, though it may be proved wrong, its creator says, because Trump is so outside the mainstream.

Banks around the world are being warned to review their computer security systems. SWIFT, the Brussels-based organization that facilitates bank-to-bank transfers, told banking clients of another cyberattack, this time on a commercial bank. In February, hackers managed to steal $81 million from the central bank of Bangladesh.

As opposed to renegotiating trade deals, some economists argue a better approach would be to support those who've lost jobs. The U.S. has underfunded employment programs, compared to other economies.

After months of negotiations, Volkswagen has reached a deal with U.S. authorities on most of the cars involved in its diesel emissions scandal. The agreement covers nearly 500,000 2-liter engine cars. Owners will get to choose between having VW buy back their vehicles or having their cars fixed. But owners still don't know how much VW will offer in the buyback, or what the terms of a fix will be.