U.S. Vice President JD Vance said he would not describe the conflict with Iran as a war, while declining to predict when hostilities might end. His comments come as the November 3 midterm elections approach, with the conflict, the economy and the labor market emerging as campaign issues. Vance also said the Federal Reserve (U.S. central bank) should lower interest rates. The Fed is scheduled to meet on September 15-16, after Chairman Kevin Warsh said last week that he remains committed to returning inflation to the 2% target. August nonfarm payrolls (monthly employment excluding farm jobs) are expected to rise by 53,000 after weaker figures for June and July, reinforcing concerns about a low-hire, low-fire labor market. Volkswagen's board approved a restructuring plan involving another 50,000 job cuts as the automaker responds to Chinese competition and trade tariffs. Separately, CNBC's Jim Cramer said investors should reconsider the Magnificent Seven, the group of major technology companies, after months of underperformance left several members lagging the S&P 500's 13% year-to-date gain.