Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, says he expects figures in the US employment report to be published on Friday may be significantly lower than predicted.

The number of new jobs is expected to be around 175,000, but Jakobsen says there is a risk the numbers could be as low as 100,000–110,000 new jobs given the poor state of the Fed’s labour market conditions index.

And, he says that if the nonfarm payroll data does disappoint again, the Fed would be more likely to lower interest rates and the US would also have a greater chance of entering recession.