WASHINGTON: The US economy generated a lower-than-expected 173,000 new jobs in August, the government reported on Friday, but upward revisions to previous months’ data sweetened the picture for hiring across the country. The overall unemployment rate fell to 5.1 per cent from 5.3 per cent in July, hitting the lowest level since April 2008 as the country plunged into recession, the Labour Department said. The drop in the jobless rate was helped by the department revising the job creation numbers for June and July up by a total of 44,000 positions, which took the monthly average for the June to August period to a healthy 221,000 jobs a month.

Tokyo investors wary

TOKYO: Tokyo investors will be bracing for the re-opening of volatile Chinese markets next week, after

the benchmark Nikkei 225 index slumped to a seven-month low on Friday. Worries over China continue to weigh on global markets as investors speculate on whether the volatility will push back the timing of the Federal Reserve’s next rate hike. World indices have seen wild swings on growing fears about China’s economy — the world’s second biggest and a key driver of global expansion — as its leaders struggle to manage a slowdown in growth. Chinese bourses re-open on Monday after a four-day weekend and investors will be keeping a close eye on trading in mainland markets.

S&P rates Iraq

NEW YORK: American financial service company Standard & Poor’s (S&P) issued war-torn Iraq a credit rating for the first time on Thursday, with the country’s conflict with Islamic State militants and low oil prices giving it a junk score. Iraq has been plagued by war and violence since the 2003 US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Currently violent jihadists have taken over large parts of the country, something Standard & Poor’s took into account when it handed out its B- rating. ‘Iraq faces security and institutional risks that are among the highest of all rated sovereigns — stemming primarily from its war with ISIS’, the agency said in a press release using another acronym for IS.