According to Automatic Data Processing Inc., the US gained 163K private sector jobs during the month of July. Early expectations stood on a gain of 121K.
USD/JPY rises in reaction, although markets remain tense. This is the first significant indicator towards the Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday, and begins 48 busy hours in the markets.
Last month, the initial report showed a gain of 176K. This was now revised to a gain of 172K.
The ADP report should be taken with a grain of salt. It isn’t that well correlated with the same month’s NFP, or the private sector part in the NFP.
However, two consecutive strong job gains could be a beginning of a trend. ADP and NFP are correlated on a larger scale, and a few consistent ADP reports can be reflected in the NFP.
The ISM Manufacturing PMI is next. It will be interesting to see if it prints a second month of contraction or returns to growth. The more important US event of the day is the rate decision. The Fed isn’t likely to announce big steps and this could help the dollar.
See the FOMC Preview for all the details.
