U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls employment data released today showed that jobs fell by more than 500,000 for the third straight month as the employment decline almost reached 600,000 in January. The Department of Labor nonfarm payrolls report showed that U.S. payrolls shed 598,000 jobs in January following a revised drop of 577,000 jobs in December and marked the largest monthly payrolls drop since December 1974. November’s payrolls data was newly revised to show a loss of 597,000 jobs after last month’s revision had shown a drop of 584,000 jobs.
The three months straight of over 500,000 jobs lost marked a first in the history of the government report and the amount of jobs lost since December 2007 has totaled 3.6 million. January’s jobs losses were more than expected as economic forecasts were predicting a decline of approximately 540,000 workers
January became the thirteenth straight month that companies have shed workers as the unemployment rate surged to 7.6 percent from 7.2 percent. The sharp increase in the unemployment rate brought the rate to its highest standing in over 16 years and also surpassed market forecasts expecting the rate to increase to 7.5 percent.
The decline in jobs was spread throughout most economic sectors with the exception of the education & health services sector which saw 54,000 jobs created in January and in government hiring which created 6,000 jobs. The goods producing sector was the hardest hit by job losses for the month as the manufacturing sector cut 207,000 jobs and the construction sector lost 111,000 jobs. The service-providing sector lost 279,000 total jobs with professional & business services shedding 121,000 workers, retail trade cutting 45,000 workers and leisure & hospitality losing 28,000 workers for the month.
U.S. Dollar lower in Forex Trading.
The U.S. dollar has been losing ground in forex trading against most of the major currencies after today’s dismal employment report. The dollar has fallen against the euro, Australian dollar, Swiss franc, New Zealand dollar and the British pound while managing to gain ground versus the Japanese yen.
The euro has advanced in trading versus the dollar from today’s 1.2784 opening at 00:00GMT to trading at approximately 1.2889 in the afternoon of the US trading session at 12:36pm EST. The British pound has increased versus the dollar as the GBP/USD has gone from its 1.4603 opening rate to trading at 1.4774 in the U.S. session.
The Australian dollar has surged versus the USD with the AUD/USD trading at 0.6741 after opening today at 0.6520. The New Zealand dollar has also made strong gains versus the US dollar as the NZD/USD trades at 0.5306 after opening the day at the 0.5123 exchange rate. Against the Swiss franc, the USD has been falling today after gaining for the last two days as the USD/CHF has declined from its 1.1728 opening to trading at 1.1690. The dollar is virtually unchanged against the Canadian dollar currently after the USD/CAD opened at 1.2356 earlier today to trading later at 1.2358 despite making an intraday high of 1.2542.
The dollar has managed to make gains against the Japanese yen as the USD/JPY has climbed from its 90.86 opening to trading at 91.87 later today.
GBP/USD Chart – The British Pound advancing against the US Dollar in Forex Trading today after the US jobs report.