U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls employment data released today showed that jobs continued to fall at a very high level but declined less than market forecasts were expecting. The Department of Labor nonfarm payrolls report showed that U.S. payrolls shed 
539,000 jobs in April following a revised drop of 699,000 jobs in March.
April marked the sixteenth straight month that companies have shed workers and the sixth straight month of over 500,000 job losses. The unemployment rate continued to increase as the rate went from 8.5 percent in March to 8.9 percent in April and brought the rate to its highest standing since September 1983.
The April job report was better than the market forecasts that were expecting a loss of approximately 600,000 jobs and matched forecasts expecting the unemployment rate to reach 8.9 percent.
March’s job decline was revised higher to show a loss of 699,000 jobs after originally registering a loss of 663,000 while February’s data was revised from 651,000 job losses to 681,000. The amount of jobs lost since December 2007 has now totaled 5.7 million according to the Labor Department.
The decline in jobs was spread throughout most economic sectors with the exception of the education & health services sector which saw 15,000 jobs created and government hiring which gained 72,000 jobs for the month. The service-providing sector lost 269,000 total jobs in April with professional & business services shedding 122,000 workers, retail trade cutting 47,000 workers and leisure & hospitality losing 44,000 workers. The goods-producing sector lost 270,000 jobs for the month as the manufacturing sector cut 149,000 jobs and the construction sector lost 110,000 jobs.
U.S. Dollar falling today in Forex Trading.
The U.S. dollar has been falling sharply in forex trading against the major currencies after today’s employment report. The dollar has fallen against the euro, Australian dollar, Swiss franc, New Zealand dollar, British pound and Japanese yen.
The euro has advanced in trading versus the dollar from today’s 1.3374 opening at 00:00 GMT to trading at approximately 1.3591 in the afternoon of the US trading session at 1:59pm EST according to currency data by Oanda. The British pound has increased versus the dollar as the GBP/USD has gone from its 1.5005 opening rate to trading at 1.5173 in the U.S. session.
The Australian dollar has gained versus the USD with the AUD/USD trading at 0.7692 after opening today at 0.7526. The New Zealand dollar has also made gains versus the US dollar as the NZD/USD trades at 0.6037 after opening the day at the 0.5921 exchange rate.
Against the Swiss franc, the USD has been falling sharply today for the second straight day as the USD/CHF has declined from its 1.1311 opening to trading at 1.1086. The dollar has declined against the Canadian dollar after the USD/CAD opened at 1.1709 earlier today to trading later at 1.1516.
The dollar has also lost ground against the Japanese yen as the USD/JPY has declined from its 99.07 opening to trading at 98.49 later today.
AUD/USD Chart – The Australian Dollar advancing against the US Dollar in Forex Trading today. The Aussie has been on a steep incline versus the USD and has gained over 300 pips this week.
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