Earnings fell in the month
The US dollar jumped on strong jobs growth in February but the key line could turn out to be average hourly earnings. In a surprise, they fell 0.1% in February, missing the +0.2% m/m consensus.
One of the better Wall Street economists predicted it.
The dollar, however, is ignoring it for now and focusing on headline jobs, which rose 242K compared to 195K expected.
The Fed can spin this a number of ways and stay hawkish. 242K jobs is a heck of a month and for the hawks it will mean that the wage growth is coming eventually. Still, it doesn't lend any urgency to hikes and now policymakers can play the game of wait-and-see longer.
It's a tough balancing act but dollar bulls should be cautious here.
