Breaking: Nonfarm Payrolls rise by 254,000 in September vs. 140,000 expected
by FXStreet Team · FXStreetNonfarm Payrolls (NFP) in the US rose by 254,000 in September, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday. This reading followed the 159,000 increase (revised from 142,000) recorded in August and surpassed the market expectation of 140,000 by a wide margin.
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Other details of the report showed that the Unemployment Rate edged lower to 4.1% from 4.2%, while the Labor Force Participation was unchanged at 62.7%. Finally, the annual wage inflation, as measured by the change in Average Hourly Earnings, rose to 4% from 3.9% in August.
"The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised up by 55,000, from +89,000 to +144,000, and the change for August was revised up by 17,000, from +142,000 to +159,000," the BLS noted in its press release. "With these revisions, employment in July and August combined is 72,000 higher than previously reported."
Market reaction to Nonfarm Payrolls data
The US Dollar (USD) gathered strength against its major rivals with the immediate reaction to the Nonfarm Payrolls data. At the time of press, the USD Index was up 0.55% on the day at 102.50.
US Dollar PRICE Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.50% | 0.16% | 0.81% | 0.17% | 0.64% | 0.94% | 0.57% | |
| EUR | -0.50% | -0.33% | 0.34% | -0.32% | 0.12% | 0.44% | 0.05% | |
| GBP | -0.16% | 0.33% | 0.68% | 0.02% | 0.45% | 0.76% | 0.37% | |
| JPY | -0.81% | -0.34% | -0.68% | -0.66% | -0.21% | 0.07% | -0.31% | |
| CAD | -0.17% | 0.32% | -0.02% | 0.66% | 0.46% | 0.78% | 0.35% | |
| AUD | -0.64% | -0.12% | -0.45% | 0.21% | -0.46% | 0.30% | -0.13% | |
| NZD | -0.94% | -0.44% | -0.76% | -0.07% | -0.78% | -0.30% | -0.41% | |
| CHF | -0.57% | -0.05% | -0.37% | 0.31% | -0.35% | 0.13% | 0.41% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
This section below was published as a preview of the US Nonfarm Payrolls data at 05:00 GMT.
- US Nonfarm Payrolls are set to increase by 140K in September, similar to August’s gain of 142K.
- The United States labor data will be published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday at 12:30 GMT.
- The US jobs data could have a significant impact on the direction of the Fed interest rates and thus the US Dollar’s valuation.
The high-impact Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data from the United States (US) for September will be published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday at 12:30 GMT.
The US labor market data is expected to significantly impact the US Dollar (USD) performance against its major rivals, as markets speculate about the size of the next Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate cut in November.
What to expect in the next Nonfarm Payrolls report?
Economists expect the Nonfarm Payrolls report to show that the US economy added 140,000 jobs in September, following a job gain of 142,000 reported in August.
The Unemployment Rate is expected to stay unchanged at 4.2% in the same period. Further, a closely-watched measure of wage inflation, Average Hourly Earnings, is seen increasing by 3.8% in the year through September, maintaining the pace seen in August.
The September jobs data could reinforce the markets’ expectations of a 50 basis points (bps) rate cut at the November meeting even though Fed Chairman Jerome Powell pushed back against such expectations during his speech at the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) Annual Meeting in Nashville on Monday.
Powell said that “this is not a committee that feels like it’s in a hurry to cut rates quickly.” “If the economy performs as expected, that would mean two more cuts this year, both by a quarter-point, aligning with the forecasts officials penciled in at the September 18 meeting,” he added.
Previewing the September employment situation report, TD Securities analysts said: “We expect payrolls to pick up modestly in September improving to a four-month high after weaker net gains at 89k and 142k in July and August, respectively.”
“The UE rate likely stayed unchanged following August's one-tenth drop to 4.2%. We also look for wage growth to moderate, printing 0.2% MoM (3.8% YoY) after posting an unexpectedly strong 0.4% MoM gain last month,” the analysts said.
Nonfarm Payrolls FAQs
What are Nonfarm Payrolls?
Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) are part of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly jobs report. The Nonfarm Payrolls component specifically measures the change in the number of people employed in the US during the previous month, excluding the farming industry.
How does Nonfarm Payrolls influence the Federal Reserve monetary policy decisions?
The Nonfarm Payrolls figure can influence the decisions of the Federal Reserve by providing a measure of how successfully the Fed is meeting its mandate of fostering full employment and 2% inflation. A relatively high NFP figure means more people are in employment, earning more money and therefore probably spending more. A relatively low Nonfarm Payrolls’ result, on the either hand, could mean people are struggling to find work. The Fed will typically raise interest rates to combat high inflation triggered by low unemployment, and lower them to stimulate a stagnant labor market.
How does Nonfarm Payrolls affect the US Dollar?
Nonfarm Payrolls generally have a positive correlation with the US Dollar. This means when payrolls’ figures come out higher-than-expected the USD tends to rally and vice versa when they are lower. NFPs influence the US Dollar by virtue of their impact on inflation, monetary policy expectations and interest rates. A higher NFP usually means the Federal Reserve will be more tight in its monetary policy, supporting the USD.
How does Nonfarm Payrolls affect Gold?
Nonfarm Payrolls are generally negatively-correlated with the price of Gold. This means a higher-than-expected payrolls’ figure will have a depressing effect on the Gold price and vice versa. Higher NFP generally has a positive effect on the value of the USD, and like most major commodities Gold is priced in US Dollars. If the USD gains in value, therefore, it requires less Dollars to buy an ounce of Gold. Also, higher interest rates (typically helped higher NFPs) also lessen the attractiveness of Gold as an investment compared to staying in cash, where the money will at least earn interest.
Sometimes Nonfarm Payrolls trigger an opposite reaction than what the market expects. Why is that?
Nonfarm Payrolls is only one component within a bigger jobs report and it can be overshadowed by the other components. At times, when NFP come out higher-than-forecast, but the Average Weekly Earnings is lower than expected, the market has ignored the potentially inflationary effect of the headline result and interpreted the fall in earnings as deflationary. The Participation Rate and the Average Weekly Hours components can also influence the market reaction, but only in seldom events like the “Great Resignation” or the Global Financial Crisis.
How will US September Nonfarm Payrolls affect EUR/USD?
In the run-up to the US NFP data release, markets are pricing in about a 37% chance that the Fed will lower rates by 50 bps in November, down from 53% seen at the start of the week, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
Amidst fading bets for a large Fed rate cut in November and escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, the US Dollar sustains its recovery from over one-year lows against its major rivals.
The mixed Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data and JOLTS Job Openings data failed to alter the market’s pricing for November’s rate cut move.
The ISM announced on Tuesday that its headline US Manufacturing Index steadied at 47.2 in September and remained deep in contraction while below the 47.5 forecast. US Job Openings rebounded to a three-month high in August, arriving at 8.04 million after declining to 7.71 million in July.
The Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported on Wednesday that the US private sector employment increased by 143,000 jobs for September, accelerating from the upwardly revised 103,000 in August and better than the 120,000 estimate. Strong ADP jobs report eased concerns about the health of the US labor market, leaving room for an upside surprise in Friday’s payrolls data.
If the headline NFP reading shows a payroll growth below 100,000, it could suggest further cooldown in the US jobs market, and hence, reinforce the odds of a big cut in November. This could initiate a fresh US Dollar downtrend while pushing EUR/USD back to 1.1200.
Alternatively, a stronger-than-expected NFP figure alongside hot wage inflation data would fuel expectations that the Fed may opt for a 25 bps rate reduction, providing extra legs to the US Dollar recovery and smashing EUR/USD toward 1.0900.
Dhwani Mehta, Analyst at FXStreet, offers a brief technical outlook for EUR/USD:
“The EUR/USD pair has breached the critical 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) at 1.1044 amid the renewed downtrend. The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) points south well below the 50 level, currently near 44, suggesting that sellers are likely to retain the upper hand in the near future.”
“On a daily candlestick closing below the 50-day SMA at 1.1044, sellers will flex their muscles toward the 100-day SMA support at 1.0928. Further down, the 200-day SMA at 1.0875 will be the last line of defense for buyers. Alternatively, they need to recapture the 21-day SMA at 1.1102 to negate the bearish pressure in the near term. Further up, the year-to-date (YTD) high of 1.1214 will be tested en route to the 1.1250 psychological barrier,” Dhwani adds.
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