Breaking: Nonfarm Payrolls decline by 92,000 in February vs. +59,000 expected
Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) in the United States (US) declined by 92,000 in February, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday. This reading followed the 126,000 (revised from 130,000) increase recorded in January and missed the market expectation for an increase of 59,000 by a wide margin.
Other details of the report showed that the Unemployment Rate edged higher to 4.4% from 4.3% in January, while the Labor Force Participation Rate declined to 62% from 62.1%. Finally, annual wage inflation, as measured by the change in the Average Hourly Earnings, rose to 3.8% from 3.7%.
“The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for December was revised down by 65,000, from +48,000 to -17,000, and the change for January was revised down by 4,000, from +130,000 to +126,000,” the BLS noted in its press release. “With these revisions, employment in December and January combined is 69,000 lower than previously reported.”
Market reaction to Nonfarm Payrolls data
The US Dollar (USD) Index retreated from daily highes following the disappointing labor market data and was last seen at 99.08, where it was virtually unchanged on the day.
US Dollar Price This week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the strongest against the Swiss Franc.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 1.54% | 0.32% | 0.99% | -0.03% | 0.46% | 1.14% | 1.68% | |
| EUR | -1.54% | -1.20% | -0.60% | -1.55% | -1.06% | -0.38% | 0.15% | |
| GBP | -0.32% | 1.20% | 0.42% | -0.35% | 0.13% | 0.82% | 1.35% | |
| JPY | -0.99% | 0.60% | -0.42% | -0.98% | -0.50% | 0.24% | 0.70% | |
| CAD | 0.03% | 1.55% | 0.35% | 0.98% | 0.45% | 1.23% | 1.71% | |
| AUD | -0.46% | 1.06% | -0.13% | 0.50% | -0.45% | 0.68% | 1.22% | |
| NZD | -1.14% | 0.38% | -0.82% | -0.24% | -1.23% | -0.68% | 0.54% | |
| CHF | -1.68% | -0.15% | -1.35% | -0.70% | -1.71% | -1.22% | -0.54% |
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).
