Breaking: US Nonfarm Payrolls surge by 1.37 million in August vs. 1.4 million expected

Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) in the US rose by 1,371,000 in August, the data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed on Friday. This reading fell short of the market expectation of 1.4 million and followed July's print of 1,734,000 (revised from 1,763,000).

Further details of the publication revealed that the Unemployment Rate dropped to 8.4% from 10.2% in July and came in better than analysts' estimate of 9.8%. Additionally, the Labor Force Participation Rate improved to 61.7% from 61.4% and the Average Hourly Earnings rose 4.7% on a yearly basis to match July's reading.

Follow our live coverage of the NFP report and the market reaction. 

Market reaction

With the initial market reaction, the US Dollar Index edged higher and was last seen gaining 0.12% on the day at 92.88.

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The headlines are impressive – a fall of the US unemployment rate to 8.4% and an increase of 1.371 million jobs, within expectations. The upbeat headlines have pushed stocks higher, allowing them to recover after Thursday's sell-off.

Additional takeaways from the press release

"In August, 24.2 million persons reported that they had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic--that is, they did not work at all or worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to the pandemic."

"Employment in government increased by 344,000 in August, accounting for one-fourth of the over-the-month gain in total nonfarm employment."

"In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 11 cents to $29.47."

"The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 34.6 hours in August."