Forex Weekly Recap & Outlook: February Non-Farm Jobs Report exceeds Expectations

By CountingPips.com

Last Week’s Recap & Notable Data Points:

Last week, the market saw a busy week topped off by the better than expected US jobs report following two disappointing jobs numbers in a row. The US nonfarm payrolls report recorded a gain of 175,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate ticked up to 6.7% from 6.6% for the month. The jobs report beat expectations of a 150,000 jobs gain that was forecasted.

The US dollar had a  mixed week in trading with gains against the Japanese yen and Canadian dollar while declines were seen against the euro, Swiss franc, Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar. The USD was virtually unchanged against the British pound sterling. See last week’s economic results below.

Here are the major economic results from last week:

  • US ISM manufacturing rose to 53.2 score
  • China non-manufacturing PMI advanced to a 55.0 score
  • Australia maintained interest rate at 2.50%
  • Australian GDP beat expectations with a 2.8% annual gain
  • Eurozone GDP fourth quarter showed 0.5% gain
  • Canada maintained interest rate at 1.0%
  • US ISM nonmanufacturing fell to 51.6 reading
  • United Kingdom interest rate stayed at 0.5%
  • Euro zone interest rate maintained a 0.25%
  • Canada employment fell by 7,000 workers in February, unemployment rate stayed at 7.0%
  • US employment rose by 175,000 workers
  • US unemployment rate rose to 6.7%

 

This Week’s Outlook: Australian Jobs Growth, NZD Interest Rate Decision, US Retail Sales Data

This week is a much less busy week on the economic data front than last week although any new developments in the Ukraine/Russia crisis will likely have a bearing on the markets. Early in the week, we have Chinese data in the form of the consumer price index and producer price index while the Japanese GDP data for the fourth quarter is to be released.

Tuesday we will see the United Kingdom manufacturing production data while from the Eurozone, we will see Germany’s trade balance. On Wednesday, the Eurozone industrial production data and the United Kingdom trade balance will be released as well as New Zealand announcing their latest interest rate decision.

Thursday will have the Australian employment data, China’s industrial production in the United States advanced retail sales for February. Friday’s important it will be the United States University of Michigan consumer confidence survey.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s major economic highlights:

Monday, March 10
Japan — GDP report fourth-quarter
China — new yuan loans
Switzerland — retail sales
Canada — housing starts

Tuesday, March 11
United Kingdom — manufacturing production
Eurozone — Germany trade balance

Wednesday, March 12
Eurozone — industrial production
United Kingdom — trade balance
New Zealand — interest rate bank decision

Thursday, March 13
Australia — employment change/unemployment rate
China — industrial production
United States — advance retail sales
United States — weekly jobless claims

Friday, March 14
Japan — BOJ meeting minutes
United States — University of Michigan confidence survey

 

Please see our full calendar for a complete listing of economic events.

 

 

 

FX_Trdr

11 years ago