By CountingPips.com
U.S. employment data was released today in the form of the ADP National Employment Report and showed that U.S. private employment declined by more than expected in December. The nonfarm private employment fell by 84,000 workers in December following the revised November decline of 145,000 jobs. November’s data was revised 
downwards from the original release of 169,000 jobs lost.
December’s data surpassed the decline of 75,000 jobs that the market forecasts were expecting. The employment data, despite the decrease, has improved in each of the last nine months and today’s report marked the best result since March of 2008.
The service-providing sector showed an increase of 12,000 jobs in December while the goods-producing sector fell by 96,000 jobs. The manufacturing sector had a loss of 43,000 jobs while construction jobs fell for the 35th straight month with a decline of 52,000 workers. All size of businesses continued to cut jobs in December as large businesses lost 34,000 jobs, medium sized businesses shed 25,000 jobs and small businesses dropped 25,000 jobs. Small businesses in the services sector did show an uptick of hiring with an increase of 11,000 jobs.
The market-moving US Nonfarm Payrolls report for December is to be released Friday at 12:30 pm GMT with market forecasts predicting a flat result or no change in the jobs after November’s surprising decrease of just 11,000 jobs.
US Dollar lower in forex trading.
The U.S. dollar has been mostly on the defensive in forex trading against the major currencies today. The dollar has gained versus the Japanese yen while falling against the euro, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc, Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar according to currency data by Oanda at 1:49 pm EST. The dollar is trading virtually unchanged against British pound.
The US stock markets have been mixed with the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 trading virtually unchanged at the time of writing while the Nasdaq has decreased over 5 points. Oil has edged higher by about $1.00 to trade at $82.84 while gold has gained by almost $16.00 to trading around the $1,134.00 per ounce level.
USD/CAD Chart – The US Dollar falling versus the Canadian Dollar today in forex trading. The USD/CAD has declined for four straight days and today touched its lowest level in trading since October 20th at the 1.0320 level.
