By CountingPips.com
U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls employment data released today showed that jobs fell more than expected in June. The Department of Labor nonfarm payrolls report showed that U.S. payrolls shed 467,000 jobs in June following a revised drop of 322,000 jobs in May. 
This was the eighteenth straight month that companies have shed workers and the unemployment rate jumped from 9.4 percent to 9.5 percent bringing the rate to its highest standing since 1983.
May’s job decline was revised lower to show a loss of 322,000 jobs from the original report of 345,000 jobs lost. The amount of jobs lost since December 2007 has now totaled 7.2 million according to the Labor Department and the unemployment rate has increased by 4.6 percent in that time span.
The June Labor Department report surpassed market forecasts that were expecting a loss of 365,000 jobs and almost matched the forecasts expecting the unemployment rate to reach 9.6 percent.
The decline in jobs was spread throughout most economic sectors with the exception of the education & health services sector which saw 34,000 jobs created in June. The service-providing sector was the hardest hit by job losses for the month as this sector lost 244,000 total jobs with professional & business services shedding 118,000 workers, retail trade cutting 21,000 workers and leisure & hospitality losing 18,000 workers for the month. Government employment also declined by 52,000. The goods-producing sector lost 223,000 jobs for the month as the manufacturing sector cut 136,000 jobs and the construction sector lost 79,000 jobs.
US Dollar gains in forex trading today.
The U.S. dollar has been stronger in forex trading today against the other major currencies following the government jobs report. The euro, British pound, Swiss franc, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and New Zealand dollar have declined while the Japanese yen has increased versus the American currency.
The EUR/USD pair has declined slightly from today’s opening rate of 1.4114 dollars at 00:00GMT to trading to 1.4009 at 11:27 am EST in the late morning of the U.S. trading session according to currency data by Oanda.
The British pound has fallen versus the dollar as the GBP/USD has declined from today’s opening level at 1.6464 to trading today at 1.6372.
The US dollar has fallen today against the yen as the USD/JPY opened today at 96.59 and has declined to trading at 96.02.
The dollar has gained today versus the Swiss franc as the USD/CHF has gone from the 1.0767 opening rate to trading at 1.0852.
The dollar has increased today against the Canadian loonie as the USD/CAD has advanced to trading around the 1.1611 level today after opening at 1.1488.
The Australian Aussie has fallen versus the US dollar today as the AUD/USD has declined to the 0.7950 level after opening at 0.8052. The New Zealand kiwi has also declined against the dollar as the NZD/USD has reached the 0.6284 level today after opening the day at 0.6385.
AUD/USD Chart – The Australian Dollar declining against the US Dollar today and falling below the 200-hour moving average in white.
