Breaking: US adds 266,000 jobs in April vs. 978,000 expected

FXStreet Team FXStreet

Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) in the US rose only by 266,000 in April, the data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed on Friday. This reading followed March's increase of 770,000 (revised from 916,000) and missed the market expectation of 978,000 by a wide margin.

Follow our live coverage of the US jobs report and the market reaction.

Further details of the press release revealed that the Unemployment Rate rose to 6.1%, compared to analysts' estimate of 5.8%, and the Average Hourly Earnings increased by 0.7% on a monthly basis.

"The labor force participation rate was little changed at 61.7% in April and is 1.6 percentage points lower than in February 2020," the publication read.

Market reaction

With the initial market reaction, the greenback came under strong selling pressure and the US Dollar Index was last seen losing 0.36% on a daily basis at 90.56.

Author

FXStreet Team

FXStreet

EUR/USD rises above 1.1800 toward nine-day EMA barrier

EUR/USD rebounds after two days of losses, trading around 1.1810 during the Asian hours on Tuesday. The technical analysis of the daily chart shows that the pair remains slightly below the ascending channel pattern, suggesting a potential bearish reversal. However, a return to the channel would revive the bullish bias.

GBP/USD losses slow as BoE rate decision looms

The Pound Sterling (GBP) took another step lower amid a cautious stance against the US Dollar on Monday, easing back from recent multi-year highs as investors positioned ahead of a busy week of UK data and the Bank of England's first policy decision of 2026.

Gold advances on softer USD; upside seems limited amid easing geopolitical tensions

Gold builds on the previous day's bounce from the $4,400 neighborhood, or the lowest level since January 6, and gains some follow-through traction during the Asian session on Tuesday. The commodity, however, struggles to capitalize on the momentum and trims a part of intraday gains to the $4,856 region amid a combination of negative factors.

Zilliqa rallies over 20% ahead of Cancun EVM upgrade

Zilliqa price is extending its gains, rallying over 20% to $0.006 on Tuesday after soaring nearly 34% the previous day. The upcoming Cancun upgrade this week is boosting investor sentiment, despite broader weakness in the crypto market. ZIL continues to attract strong buying interest, supported by rising trading activity and improving derivatives metrics.

Macro outlook improves despite the geopolitics

In the headlines, geopolitical have overshadowed an otherwise benign macro environment in early 2026. While market jitters around the US intervention in Venezuela and the sudden tariff threats over the control of Greenland faded quickly, the events have left a sense of unease of what might come next.

Ripple steadies after sell-off as low on-chain activity, retail interest weigh

XRP rebounds from last week’s support at $1.50 but struggles below resistance at $1.77. Active addresses on the XRP Ledger dropped below 18,000 on Sunday amid risk-averse sentiment. Retail interest in XRP continues to decline, with futures Open Interest dropping to $2.81 billion.