On the first Friday of each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases Non-Farm Payrolls data for the month prior. 54,000 jobs were created in August.

Analysts expect that a net 65,000 jobs were lost in July. Wall Street — and Main Street — have a big interest in those results.

Friday’s July Jobs Report Could Spur Mortgage Rates Higher

At first glance, the June jobs report looks weak but a deeper look shows something different.

According to the government, 431,000 jobs were created in May, but of those new jobs, 95.4 percent represented temporary staffing for the 2010 Census. Home affordability is improving on the report.

Despite 290,000 jobs created in April 2010 — nearly twice the expected amount — and a 40 percent upward revision of March’s numbers, mortgage rates are essentially unchanged. In a normal environment, rates would be higher. Today is not normal.

Non-Farm Payrolls is the official name of the government’s monthly jobs report and, given the fragile state of the U.S. economy, Wall Street will be watching it closely. Mortgage rates could spike come Friday morning.