The stage is set. The lights are on. And soon it will be time to find out. Will the Federal Reserve finally raise the curtain by raising interest rates.

Until the recent bloodbath in global stock markets tied to a slowing Chinese economy, investors widely expected the Fed to lift rates after the bank’s two-day meeting that ends Sept. 17. Now it's less certain when Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen and her colleagues will act.

Waiting until the very last moment won’t give the Fed much clarity on the U.S. or global economic outlook, either. The U.S. jobs report for August that came out on Friday was the last big guidepost before the mid-month gathering. And what it showed was the status quo remains intact: U.S. companies continue to hire at a steady clip, with some firms boosting wages as the labor market tightens.

Still, the waiting period gives central bankers extra time to see if investors in global stock markets take a chill pill. Although big ups and downs in stocks have little historical relationship with the economy’s health, the Fed probably would prefer to wait if investors remain on edge.

“As long as markets calm down enough to rule out a near-term crisis,” contended chief economist Stephen Stanley of Amherst Pierpont Securities, the Fed is more likely than not to raise rates in September.

Jobs, jobs, jobs

Even with the August employment report in the rear-view mirror, investors will sift for more clues on the Fed’s course of action. In a holiday-shortened week, they’ll pay close to attention to the latest report on U.S. job openings known as Jolts.

“Yellen herself says she looks closely at the Jolts number,” noted JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade.

The number of available jobs in June stood just a touch below a record high, and little or no dropoff is expected in July given strong employment gains during the summer. A bigger obstacle is getting all those positions filled quickly. Many companies complain of shortage of skilled workers who can fill open jobs. So the rate of hiring has generally lagged the increase in job openings.

In any case, the Jolts report is just one of many employment indicators that show a stronger labor market. That’s why many economists believe the disappointing 173,000 increase in new jobs in August should be discounted in what many argue was a generally strong report.

Read:Pace of hiring in U.S. slows in August, but unemployment hits new low

“The Fed has got to dismiss the number,” said Sophia Koropeckyj, managing director at Moody’s Analytics. “There are plenty of other labor market indicators that look pretty good.”

Investors will also keep an eye on the consumer sentiment reading for September that’s due on Friday. If the sharp downturn in U.S. stocks has rattled ordinary Americans, it will show up in consumer surveys.

After seven years of keeping short-term U.S. interest rates near zero to stimulate the economy, however, the Fed is on a course that won’t be deterred by a mediocre report here or there. Most top central bankers have probably made up their minds and won’t be dissuaded barring a sudden catastrophe.

“Anyone who wanted to raise rates before will vote do so,” said Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist of the job site Glassdoor. “Anyone who didn’t will stick to their guns.”

Just listen to hawkish Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, who’s been pushing for a rate hike.

“It’s time to align our monetary policy with the significant economic progress that we have made,” he said after the August jobs report was released.