By CountingPips.com
The U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls data released today showed that jobs fell less than expected and declined the least since August 2008. The Department of Labor report showed that private employers cut 216,000 jobs in August following July’s revised 276,000 decrease. August marked the twentieth consecutive month that companies have shed workers but the decline was the least since jobs fell by 175,000 workers in August 2008.
The unemployment rate unexpectedly increased by 0.3 percent to 9.7 percent in August and reached the highest level since June 1983 when it was 10.1 percent.
July’s employment data was revised higher to a loss of 276,000 jobs after originally showing a decline of 247,000. According to the Department of Labor, there has been a loss of 7.4 million jobs and a 4.8 percent increase in the unemployment rate since the start of the recession in December 2007.
The August job decline was better than market forecasts that were expecting a loss of approximately 230,000 jobs but the unemployment rate rose higher than the 9.5 percent that was expected.
The decline in jobs was spread throughout most economic sectors with the exception of the education & health services sector which saw 52,000 jobs created. The goods-producing sector lost 136,000 jobs for the month as the manufacturing sector cut 63,000 jobs and the construction sector lost 65,000 jobs. The service-providing sector lost 80,000 total jobs in August with professional & business services shedding 22,000 workers and retail trade cutting 10,000 workers. The leisure & hospitality sector lost 21,000 workers while government hiring declined by 18,000 jobs for the month.
U.S. Dollar mixed after Employment News.
The U.S. dollar has been mixed in forex trading today against the other major currencies after the employment report. The dollar is showing gains on the day so far against the Swiss franc and Japanese yen while showing losses versus the British pound, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and Canadian dollar. The dollar has been almost unchanged in up and down trading against the euro around the 1.4256 exchange rate in the U.S. trading session at 11:44am EDT.
AUD/USD Chart – The Australian Dollar advancing for the third day in a row against the US Dollar in Forex Trading today. The AUD/USD is trading at the top of an ascending triangle formation on the Daily Chart and breaking through the upside resistence will propel the AUD/USD to its highest exchange rate since September 2008.
