Created
: 2024.11.01
2024.11.01 15:01
All eyes are on the market-moving Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for October, to be released by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday at 12:30 GMT.
US labor market data is critical to determining the Federal Reserve's (Fed) future interest-rate cuts and has a significant influence on the value of the US Dollar (USD) against its major rivals.
Economists expect the Nonfarm Payrolls to show that the US economy added a meager 113,000 jobs in October, following a strong gain of 254K in September.
The Unemployment Rate (UE) is likely to remain steady at 4.1% in the same period.
Meanwhile, Average Hourly Earnings (AHE), a closely-watched measure of wage inflation, are expected to increase by 4.0% in the year through October, at the same pace seen in September.
The October jobs report is eagerly awaited for fresh hints on the Fed's interest rate path, especially as industry experts and analysts speculate that the Fed could pause its easing cycle next month on a blockbuster Nonfarm Payrolls print.
However, downside risks to the jobs data persist, as it is likely to be distorted by the two recent hurricanes and the strike at Boeing.
Previewing the October employment situation report, TD Securities analysts said: "The November NFP report is set to be extremely noisy, but we expect a below-consensus 70k gain. High-frequency labor market data already shows some softening, and Hurricanes and the Boeing strike may subtract a further 80k from the reading."
"We expect the UE Rate to rebound to 4.3% from 4.1% as the decline was likely overstated, but for AHE to rise 0.4% MoM amid distortions," they added.
Before the Fed entered its 'blackout period', several policymakers supported further interest rate cuts while warranting caution on the inflation outlook, echoing the US central bank's data-dependent approach.
At the time of writing, markets are fully pricing in a 25 basis points (bps) Fed rate cut in November, with about a 70% probability of another quarter percentage point reduction in December, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
The USD has been capitalizing on US economic resilience and odds of a less aggressive Fed's easing cycle leading into the NFP showdown on Friday.
Earlier in the week, the BLS reported that the JOLTS Job Openings declined to 7.44 million in September from 7.86 million in August. This reading came in below the market expectation of 7.99 million but failed to alter the market's pricing for November's rate cut move.
The Automatic Data Processing (ADP) announced on Wednesday that employment in the US private sector increased by 233,000 jobs for October, accelerating from the upwardly revised 159,000 in September and better than the market estimate of 115,000. Even though these figures aren't always correlated with the official NFP numbers, the strong ADP jobs report eased concerns about the health of the US labor market, leaving room for an upside surprise in Friday's payrolls data.
If the headline NFP reading surprises with a payroll growth below 100,000, it could trigger a fresh knee-jerk US Dollar selling wave. However, the Greenback is expected to resume its recent uptrend against its major rivals as the dust settles and markets digest the noisy data due to hurricanes and strikes. In such a scenario, EUR/USD traders will brace for a whipsaw within a familiar range.
Conversely, a stronger-than-expected NFP print and elevated wage inflation data would seal in a rate reduction by the Fed next week, providing extra legs to the USD uptrend while dragging EUR/USD back toward 1.0700.
In conclusion, the reaction to the US labor data may be short-lived, with the Greenback expected to continue its advance.
Eren Sengezer, European Session Lead Analyst at FXStreet, offers a brief technical outlook for EUR/USD:
"Once EUR/USD stabilizes above 1.0870, where the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) is located, and starts using this level as support, it could gather bullish momentum. On the upside, 1.0940 (100-day SMA) could be seen as the next hurdle before 1.1000-1.1010 (round level, 50-day SMA)."
"On the flip side, technical sellers could emerge if EUR/USD fails to clear the 1.0870 hurdle. In this scenario, 1.0800 (round level) could be seen as interim support before 1.0670 (static level from June)."
The Nonfarm Payrolls release presents the number of new jobs created in the US during the previous month in all non-agricultural businesses; it is released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The monthly changes in payrolls can be extremely volatile. The number is also subject to strong reviews, which can also trigger volatility in the Forex board. Generally speaking, a high reading is seen as bullish for the US Dollar (USD), while a low reading is seen as bearish, although previous months' reviews and the Unemployment Rate are as relevant as the headline figure. The market's reaction, therefore, depends on how the market assesses all the data contained in the BLS report as a whole.
Read more.Next release: Fri Nov 01, 2024 12:30
Frequency: Monthly
Consensus: 113K
Previous: 254K
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
America's monthly jobs report is considered the most important economic indicator for forex traders. Released on the first Friday following the reported month, the change in the number of positions is closely correlated with the overall performance of the economy and is monitored by policymakers. Full employment is one of the Federal Reserve's mandates and it considers developments in the labor market when setting its policies, thus impacting currencies. Despite several leading indicators shaping estimates, Nonfarm Payrolls tend to surprise markets and trigger substantial volatility. Actual figures beating the consensus tend to be USD bullish.
Created
: 2024.11.01
Last updated
: 2024.11.01
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