This Weekly Financial Markets Update reviews the top market headlines: August Jobs Report Exceeds Expectations, Consumer Inflation Little Changed in August, Japan’s Government Bond Yield Hits 30-Year High
  • The U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in August
  • The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 3.4% year-over-year in August
  • Japan's 10-year government bond yield recently hit 3%

Top Three Market Headlines

August Jobs Report Exceeds Expectations: The U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in August, according to the latest report issued by the U.S. Department of Labor prior to Labor Day. This far surpassed economists' consensus estimate of 53,000 gains and was the largest increase in five months. Moreover, the number of new jobs created over the prior two months was revised upward by 55,000. Through August, the U.S. has added an average of 80,000 jobs per month in 2026, well exceeding the monthly pace of 10,000 jobs in 2025. Sectors seeing the most job additions in August included restaurants and local government education. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1% on the month.

Consumer Inflation Little Changed in August: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week that the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at a 0.4% monthly pace in August, driven in large part by gasoline prices, which increased 3.9% during the month. On a year-over-year basis, prices were up 3.4%, unchanged from July's reported rate. The core CPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, rose 0.3% on the month, up slightly from a 0.2% pace in July, though the year-over-year rate shrank modestly from 2.5% to 2.4%, the slowest pace since March of 2021.

Japan's Government Bond Yield Hits 30-Year High: Japan's 10-year government bond yield recently hit 3%, the highest level since 1996. This represents a marked change from just a few years ago, when the yield hovered around 0% for a six-year stretch from 2016 to 2021. Since the start of 2025, the yield has surged nearly two percentage points, owing to a confluence of factors, including moves by the Bank of Japan to raise its policy interest rate in response to inflation, the central bank's retreat from buying Japanese government bonds (which served to suppress bond yields), and market concerns about growing Japanese government debt.

As of September 11, 2026 Week Quarter-To-Date Year-To-Date One-Year
MSCI All Country World -0.89% 2.26% 13.76% 19.22%
S&P 500 -0.78% 2.33% 12.77% 17.61%
Russell 2000 -2.38% -3.77% 17.95% 21.41%
MSCI EAFE -1.38% 2.80% 12.51% 18.59%
MSCI Emerging Markets -0.23% 0.38% 24.32% 33.90%
FTSE NAREIT Equity -1.17% -2.50% 14.88% 12.80%
Bloomberg Commodity 1.72% 18.76% 35.81% 46.18%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate -1.04% -2.04% -1.43% -0.73%

CBS News, 9/11/2026,.Bloomberg 9/7/2026, US Dep't of Labor, 9/4/2026 & 9/11/2026, FactSet. Index returns from Morningstar Direct. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. Investment advisory services are offered by Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors, LLC ("GFA"), an SEC registered investment advisor that provides retirement, investment advisory, discretionary and independent fiduciary services. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply any specific level of skill or training and does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by the SEC. GFA is a limited liability company with Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc. as its single member. GFA may pay referral fees or other remuneration to employees of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. or its affiliates or to independent contractors; such payments do not change our fee. Neither Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., GFA, their affiliates nor representatives provide accounting, legal or tax advice. GFA does not express an investment opinion regarding any specific commodity, sector or individual security. Unless otherwise expressly noted, the contents of this communication do not constitute securities or investment advice, nor should this communication be construed as an opinion regarding the appropriateness of any investment. The information provided cannot take into account all the various factors that may affect your particular situation, therefore you should consult your GFA consultant before acting upon any information or recommendation contained herein to discuss the ability of the information/recommendation for your specific situation.