Investing.com -- BlackRock Inc.'s Jeff Rosenberg said Friday that the strong August jobs report puts focus on next week's consumer price index data as Federal Reserve policymakers weigh a potential interest rate increase.

"This kind of confirms what we've known about the labor market and puts the focus and the onus back on the inflation," Rosenberg said in a Bloomberg Television interview. "It's really about inflation going up or not going down fast enough as to whether or not the Fed hikes in the September meeting."

The BlackRock portfolio manager said the Fed will likely hold rates steady if the Sept. 11 CPI report shows continued progress on inflation.

August nonfarm payrolls rose 162,000, surpassing all estimates, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday. The report also showed July's job losses were revised away. Yields on two-year Treasuries jumped following the data, and traders increased their bets on a rate hike at the Federal Open Market Committee's Sept. 15-16 meeting.

Rosenberg said wage inflation no longer poses the primary threat it did during Covid-era disruptions. He described the current job market as "low-hire, low-fire."

The real inflation risk now comes from energy price increases moving from headline inflation into core inflation, he said. The jobs report came hours after AAA reported that average diesel prices at US pumps reached a record $5.85 per gallon.

Even if the Fed raises rates by 25 basis points, Wall Street's interest in stocks and credit will likely remain steady, Rosenberg said. He noted that the equity market depends more on earnings and growth from technology and artificial intelligence developments. Strong credit quality and tight spreads would likely help debt markets handle a quarter-point rate increase, he added.