ING comments on the impact of the disappointing US jobs numbers for August, which came in at 142K, on the Fed policy: The headline figure is weak compared to the ADP survey, and both of the ISM surveys, and also many of the regional surveys. As such, we are hard pressed to give it much credence. More believably, the unemployment rate did fall by 0.1pp to 6.1% and hourly wages, which were revised upwards, rose 0.2%mom to stand at 2.1%YoY. Such weakness plays into the hands of the Fed doves, of whom, Chair Janet Yellen is the most important, and gives her more leeway to stand firm against the hawks, many of whom are calling for a change in the Fed’s language on the likely timing and scale of policy normalisation. We were hoping for such a change to come at the September 17 FOMC meeting, though the odds on this have risen thanks to this limp-looking labour data. And whether you believe it or not (and we have strong doubts) payrolls remains an important influence on policy.