Highlights of the May non-farm payrolls report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:
- Prior reading was 288K (revised to 282k)
- Unemployment rate 6.3% vs 6.3% expected
- Prior unemployment rate was 6.3%
- Participation rate 62.8% vs 62.8% prior
- Private payrolls 216K vs 210K exp
- Manufacturing payrolls 10K vs 10K exp
- Avg hourly earnings +0.2% vs +0.2% exp
- Avg weekly hours 34.5 vs 34.5 exp
- Underemployment 12.2% vs 12.3% prior
The market was ready for disappointment but these numbers are solid and slightly better than the consensus. What’s happening in the market is that this cleared away the main risk hurdle for the euro bulls and that’s causing a broad US dollar slip with USD down about 20 pips across the board after the numbers.
Non-farm payrolls May
