Non-original: American employers are gradually slowing down their hiring pace, with hourly wage growth also slowing, offering some comfort to policymakers at the Federal Reserve who are still trying to deal with stubbornly high inflation. However, for investors, US economic data and monetary policy have taken a back seat to the ongoing negotiations over the federal debt ceiling, which could risk a US default in the coming days. While the lawmakers involved in the negotiations have narrowed their differences, a final agreement has yet to be reached. The non-farm payroll data set to be released next Friday is expected to show that the US added less than 200,000 jobs in May, below the monthly average growth of about 370,000 over the past year.