US ADP Employment falls by more than expected in Dec. US Dollar mixed today in Currency Trading.| CountingPips Forex Blog

January 7, 2009 - Forex Economic News

US ADP Employment falls by more than expected in Dec. US Dollar mixed today in Currency Trading.

U.S. employment data was released today in the form of the ADP National Employment Report and showed that private employment fell much more than expected in the month of December. According to today's report, nonfarm private employment dropped by 639,000 jobs USD mixed in Currency Trade in the November to December period after declining by a revised 472,000 in November. The decrease in the jobs report was about 200,000 more than expected as forecasts were predicting a decline of approximately 493,000 jobs for December.

The service-providing sector contributed the largest decline for the month with an estimated loss of 473,000 jobs in December while the goods-producing sector delined by 220,000 jobs. The goods-producing sector has now registered 23 months in a row of declines. The manufacturing sector registered an employment decline of 120,000 jobs while construction jobs decreased by 102,000 workers. Construction jobs have now marked 21 straight months of losses. All sizes of businesses shed jobs in December as small businesses decreased by 281,000 jobs with medium-sized businesses losing 321,000 workers and large businesses losing 91,000 workers.

The ADP decrease in jobs does not bode well for the Non-farm payrolls release scheduled for Friday at 13:30 GMT. The Non-farm payrolls shed 533,000 jobs in November and the market forecasts are expecting December's payrolls to decline by approximately 500,000.

US Dollar mixed in Currency Trading.

The U.S. dollar has been mixed so far in currency trading against the major currencies today. The dollar has gained against the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and New Zealand dollar while losing ground against the British pound, Japanese yen, Swiss franc and the euro.

The euro has advanced versus the dollar from today's 1.3517 opening at 00:00GMT to trading at approximately 1.3628 in the afternoon of the US trading session at 2:39pm EST. The euro had lost ground to the USD for the last two days. The British pound has increased today versus the dollar for the third day in a row as the GBP/USD has gone from its 1.4894 opening to trading at 1.5115 in the afternoon. The GBP/USD has traded at its highest level in about 3 weeks and reached an intraday high of 1.5282.

The dollar has also been falling against the Japanese yen today as the USD/JPY has declined from its 93.79 opening to trading at 92.72 later today. Against the Swiss franc, the USD has been falling today after two straight gaining days as the USD/CHF has declined from its 1.1152 opening to trading at 1.1018.

The dollar has advanced against the Canadian dollar after opening at 1.1840 earlier today to trading later at 1.1958 for over a 100 pip increase. The New Zealand dollar has fallen versus the US dollar after opening at 0.5974 today as the NZD/USD currently trades at 0.5932. The Australian dollar has also lost ground versus the USD with the AUD/USD trading at 0.7136 after opening today at 0.7223.

USD/CHF Chart - The US Dollar declined today against the Swiss Franc as the USD/CHF pair bounces off the upward trendline. (1 Hour Chart).

Today's Forex Chart

tags: ADP employment, jobs, us economy, currency trading

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