By CountingPips.com
The U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls employment report for October came in worse than expected and the unemployment rate bumped up to a 26-year high. The Department of Labor nonfarm payrolls report showed that U.S. payrolls shed 190,000 jobs in October, surpassing market forecasts expecting an approximately 175,000 jobs lost and marking the twenty-second straight month that companies have shed workers. September’s employment decline was revised from the original report of 263,000 jobs 
lost down to a 216,000 decline. The unemployment rate moved up from 9.8 percent in September to 10.2 percent last month and leveled the rate at its highest standing since June 1983.
The decline in jobs was spread throughout most economic sectors with the exceptions of the education & health services sector which saw 45,000 jobs created and the professional & business services sector which added 18,000 jobs. The goods-producing sector was the hardest hit by job losses for the month as this sector lost 129,000 total jobs with the manufacturing sector cutting 61,000 jobs and the construction sector losing 62,000 jobs. The service-providing sector lost 61,000 jobs total with retail trade cutting 40,000 workers and leisure & hospitality shedding 37,000 workers for the month. Government hiring was flat for the month.
US Dollar is mixed in forex trading today.
The U.S. dollar has been mostly lower today in forex trading against the other major currencies but following the government jobs report we have started to see a bit of a pullback and some dollar strength. Overall at 10:35 am in the US trading session, the dollar has gained versus the British pound and Canadian dollar while falling versus the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and Japanese yen. Against the euro and Swiss franc, the dollar is currently trading about unchanged from today’s opening exchange rates.
The US stock markets, meanwhile, have dipped into negative territory this morning with the Dow Jones falling by over 30 points, the Nasdaq decreasing over 5 points and the S&P 500 declining by over 3 points at the time of writing. Oil has traded lower to under $79 per barrel while gold has advanced by around $9.00 to trading around the $1097.00 per ounce level.
USD/JPY Chart – The US Dollar falling sharply today versus the Japanese Yen in forex trading action today.
