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Hiring in the US slowed in August following a summer surge in a sign that the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates this month. Employers added 151,000 staff to their payrolls last month, according to the US Labor Department. This was below the 180,000 expected by analysts, and down from an upwardly revised increase of 275,000 in July. The steady jobs growth kept the unemployment rate at 4.9pc. Economists expected the rate to fall to 4.8pc.  The dollar fell against the pound and the euro after the data were released, while traders reduced their bets on a September rate hike.  Financial markets now believe there is a 26pc that the Fed will raise rates this month, down from 34pc just before the jobs data were released.  The probability of a rate hike this year fell to 56pc, from 60pc.... Janet Yellen, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said last week that she believed that the case for raising interest rates in the world’s largest economy was strengthening. Stanley Fischer, vice chairman of the Fed, signalled that two rate increases were possible, though Ms Yellen and Mr Fischer stressed that any move up from the current federal funds target of between 0.25pc and 0.5pc would depend on the data they saw. The average monthly jobs gain over the past 12 months has been 204,000.  Separate US data showed the trade deficit narrowed in July as exports rose to their highest level in 10 months.  This suggests economic growth picked up at the start of the third quarter following annualised growth of 1.1pc in the second quarter.