Breaking: NFP beats with 224K, EUR/USD drops

Yohay Elam FXStreet

The US economy has gained 224,000 jobs in June, significantly above expectations that stood at 160K. The news is a relief for the Federal Reserve.

However, wages increased by only 0.2% on a monthly basis (down from an upwards revised 0.3% in May) and 3.1% on an annual basis. The unemployment rate has risen to 3.7% as the participation rate advanced to 62.9%. Average hourly earnings remained at 34.4, and manufacturing jobs are up by 17K – above expectations.

The US dollar is gaining ground across the board, and EUR/USD dropped below 1.1250. GBP/USD has extended its falls below 1.2550 and USD/JPY is up around 108.30.

Follow all the update in our live NFP coverage

Economists have expected an increase of 160,000 jobs in the US in June, after a meager rise of 75,000 in May (before revisions). However, leading indicators published ahead of the event have been pointing to a downside surprise. The ADP private sector employment report has shown an increase of 102,000 and the ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI has come out at only 55.1 points – both lowering expectations. An increase of 120,000 was touted by some analysts. Wages carried expectations of an increase of 0.3% on a monthly basis and 3.2% on a yearly one.

June's NFP is published one day after the US Independence Day holiday, and trading volume may be thinner than usual. The US dollar has gained ground ahead of the release.

Author

Yohay Elam

FXStreet

Yohay is in Forex since 2008 when he founded Forex Crunch, a blog crafted in his free time that turned into a fully-fledged currency website later sold to Finixio.

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