Unemployment rate edges higher

Hiring slowed in July as employers added just 113,000 new jobs, propelling the unemployment rate to a five-month high of 4.8 percent and providing fresh evidence that companies are growing cautious amid high energy prices.

The latest snapshot Friday from the Labor Department added to the evidence from a variety of economic barometers that the economy is slowing. That raised hopes among some investors and some economists that the Federal Reserve can take a breather next week from its rate-raising campaign and leave interest rates alone. Others continued to predict another rate increase will come at that time.