“The data have not been consistent with the weak first half of the year,” said Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The improving labor market backdrop is supportive of firming rates of U.S. growth in the second half of the year.” With new applications for jobless aid trending lower and the share of businesses that cannot fill open positions rising, there is little doubt the labor market is tightening. Still, the unemployment rate is seen holding at a 5-1/2 year low of 6.3 percent.