U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls plunges in November. Unemployment rate hits 15-year high. US Dollar gaining in Currency Trading today. | CountingPips Forex Blog

December 5, 2008 - Forex Economic News

U.S. Nonfarm jobs plunge in November. Unemployment rate hits 15-year high. US Dollar gaining in Currency Trading today.

U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls employment data released today showed that jobs fell much more than expected in November and posted the biggest monthly drop in payrolls since December 1974. The Department of Labor nonfarm payrolls report showed that U.S. payrolls shed 533,000 jobs in November following a revised drop of 320,000 jobs in October. The October payrolls data USD gains in Currency Trading, Fx trade, Jobs report had originally showed a drop of 240,000 jobs while the September's jobs data was also revised to show a decline of 403,000 jobs compared to the decline of 284,000 originally released. November's jobs data surpassed economic forecasts that were expecting a job loss of approximately 335,000 workers for November.

November was the eleventh straight month that companies shed workers and brought the total of lost jobs to 2.7 million since December 2007. Today's data showed the highest monthly employment losses since December 1974 when job losses totaled 602,000. The unemployment rate rose to a 15-year high in November to 6.7 percent from 6.5 percent in October. The unemployment rate increase was actually below market forecasts expecting the rate to increase to 6.8 percent. The unemployment rate has risen by 1.7 percent since December 2007.

Manufacturing continued to be the hard hit by job losses in November, shedding 85,000 jobs while construction jobs also fell by 82,000 workers. Professional business and services showed the largest decline for the month with 136,000 jobs losses while retail trade also showed a decline of 91,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality saw 76,000 jobs losses. Education and health services led the way in job creation in November adding 52,000 jobs while government employment also added 7,000 jobs.

Hourly earnings showed a rise of 0.4 cents in November and have shown a rise of rise of 3.7 since November 2007 while average weekly earnings have grown by 2.8 percent since November 2007.

US Dollar gaining in Currency Trading today.

The dollar has made gains in currency trading today despite the dismal job report today as the U.S. currency has gained against the pound, euro, loonie, aussie, kiwi and Swiss franc while declining verses the yen.

The euro has been weaker verses the dollar today as the EUR/USD has declined from its 1.2746 opening(00:00 GMT) to trading at 1.2661 in the afternoon of the U.S. trading session at 12:12pm ET.The British pound has fallen today as the GBP/USD has declined from its 1.4661 opening exchange rate to trading at 1.4602 usd per gbp.

The dollar has fallen verses the Japanese yen and trading at 92.08 after opening at 92.36. The dollar has advanced today verses the Canadian loonie as the USD/CAD trades at the exchange rate of 1.2952. The USD/CAD has gained roughly 175 pips from its 1.2776 opening.

The dollar has gained against the Swiss franc as the USD/CHF trades at 1.2230 after opening at 1.2006 today for a gain of over 200 pips. The dollar has also been stronger against the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar. The AUD/USD trades at 0.6339 after an 0.6442 opening while the NZD/USD trades at 0.5243 today after opening at the exchange rate of 0.5326.

USD/CHF Chart - The US Dollar advancing vs. the Swiss Franc in currency trading today (Hourly Chart).

Today's Forex Chart

tags: us economy, jobs, employment, nonfarm payrolls, currency trading

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