Timing the First Rate Hike on the Fed's 'Dual Mandate'

The Fed's rate hike timing is 'data dependent'. Few data points are as comprehensive and influential for determining monetary policy than the BLS's monthly labor statistics. The unemployment rate is good for the employment element of the mandate, but there is also an inflation gauge: wage growth. Will this data offer enough of a push to shift interest rate expectations - hawkish or dovish?