Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) in the US declined by a record-high of 20.5 million in April, the data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed on Friday. This reading followed March's print of -870,000 (revised from -701,000) and came in slightly better than the market expectation of -22 million.
Further details of the publication showed that the Unemployment Rate jumped to 14.7% from 4.4% and the Labor Force Participation Rate slumped to 60.2% from 62.7%. Finally, Average Hourly Earnings rose by 4.7% on a monthly basis to beat the market expectation for an increase of 0.3%.
Follow our live coverage of the NFP report and the market reaction.
Key takeaways
"The employment-population ratio, at 51.3 percent, dropped by 8.7 percentage points over the month."
"Employment fell sharply in all major industry sectors, with particularly heavy job losses in leisure and hospitality."
"The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job, at 9.9 million, nearly doubled in April."
Market reaction
The US Dollar Index edged higher after the data and turned flat on the day at 99.85 with the initial reaction. On the other hand, the S&P 500 Futures extended its daily upside and was last seen gaining 0.95% on a daily basis.
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EUR/USD unfazed around 1.0840 post-NFP.
EUR/USD keeps the rangebound theme unaltered around the 1.0840 following the publication of US Non-farm Payrolls.
US Non-Farm Payrolls Quick Analysis: When the worst sends markets higher.
The US labor market collapse in April surpassed all previous records for job losses but markets have already turned to the future as reopening states spur economic revival hopes.
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