U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls fall more than expected in September. US Dollar mixed in Fx Trade. | CountingPips Forex Blog

October 3, 2008 - Forex Economic News

U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls fall more than expected in September. US Dollar mixed in Fx Trade.

U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls employment data released today showed that jobs fell much more than expected in September and fell by the largest monthly amount in five years. The Department of Labor nonfarm payrolls report showed that U.S. payrolls shed 159,000 jobs in September following a revised drop of 73,000 jobs in August and marked the largest payroll decline since March of 2003 when payrolls declined by 212,000 workers. The unemployment rate remained USD mixed in Fx Trade steady at 6.1 percent in September following a jump by 0.4 percent in August. The decline in job data surpassed market forecasts that were expecting an approximate decline of 105,000 jobs for the month.

The decrease in jobs for September marks the ninth straight month of job losses and brings the total of 2008 job losses to 760,000 workers. On an annual basis, nonfarm payrolls have shed 2.2 million jobs and the unemployment rate has risen by 1.4 percentage points since August 2007.

Manufacturing continued to be the hardest hit by job losses in September, shedding 51,000 jobs while retail trade also showed a notable decline of 40,000 jobs for the month. Construction jobs fell by 35,000 workers and professional business and services also shed 27,000 jobs. Education and health services led the way in job creation last month adding 25,000 jobs while government employment also made employment gains in September with 9,000 jobs added. Hourly earnings showed a rise of 0.2 percent or 3 cents in September after August's rise of 8 cents.

Eurozone Retail Sales increase in August by 0.3%.

Eurozone Retail Sales increased in August according to a news release by EuroStat earlier today. August retail sales advanced by 0.3 percent in the 15 country Eurozone after increasing by a revised 0.1 percent in July. The retail sales increase surpassed market forecasts that had expected sales to increase by just 0.1 percent for the month. August's retail sales numbers on an annual basis are 1.8 percent below the August 2007 sales level.

Contributing positively to the sales increase for August was an increase of 0.7 percent in food, drinks and tobacco while non-food sales increased by 0.1 percent. Luxembourg and Germany led the way in positive sales contributions among member states with increases of 6.8 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively for the month.

USD mixed in Fx Trading.

The U.S. dollar has been mixed in forex trading against the major currencies today but has gained against every major for the week.

EUR/USD

The euro has declined against the dollar despite the dismal US jobs report. The EUR/USD is falling verses the dollar for the fifth straight day at 1.3792 dollars per euro and will close the week lower verses the buck after two straight weekly gains.

GBP/USD

The British pound has gained against the dollar to trading at 1.7733 dollars per pound today after opening today's trading at 1.7636. The pound has lost ground this week verses the dollar after advancing verse the buck for the last three weeks.

USD/JPY

The dollar has fallen against the yen in trading today at 105.15 yen per dollar after opening verses the Japanese currency today at approximately the 105.31 level. On a weekly basis, the yen is on its way to falling verses the dollar for the third straight weekly close and for the sixth out of the last seven weeks.

USD/CAD

The U.S. dollar has gained ground against the Canadian loonie as the USD/CAD pair has gained from today's 1.0787 open to advancing to 1.0803 loonie per usd. The Canadian loonie is losing ground to the dollar for the week after gaining ground for three straight weeks.

USD/CHF

The dollar is losing ground today against the Swiss franc as this pair trades at approximately 1.1279 today and down from the 1.1353 opening. The dollar has gained against the franc this week after two losing weeks. The dollar has advanced vs. the franc for ten out of the last 12 weekly closes.

AUD/USD

The Australian dollar has been virtually unchanged verses the dollar as the AUD/USD pair trades around the 0.7723 level after dropping for the last five days in a row. The Aussie is losing ground to the dollar for the second straight week after two gaining weeks.

NZD/USD

The New Zealand kiwi has gained ground today verses the USD as the NZD/USD pair is trading around 0.6606 after opening at 0.6564. The kiwi is losing ground for the second week in a row to the dollar after two gaining weeks.

USD/CHF Chart - The US dollar advanced against the Swiss franc this week and for the 10th out of the last 12 weeks(Weekly Chart).

Today's Forex Chart

tags: employment, jobs, producer prices, fx trade

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