151K jobs were added in the US in October, triple than expected. Non-Farm Payrolls were expected to show only 50-60K. The unemployment rate remained at 9.6% as expected. Signs of change? EUR/USD is back to the levels it saw before QE2. The Aussie remains high
Also September’s number was revised to the upside, with only 41K jobs lost, far better than 95K originally reported. One of the drivers of the new quantitative easing program was the high level of unemployment. It’s still too early to say there is a big change, but there are already quite a few signs.
Last week’s jobless claims fell to 434K (Although rising back this week), the employment components of both manufacturing and services PMIs exceeded expectations, and also housing figures stabilized.
EUR/USD now trades at around 1.4080, after dropping and bouncing off the important 1.4030 level. GBP/USD is at 1.6210, after getting stuck at around 1.6280 earlier in the day. AUD/USD is at 1.0150, taking the NFP quite easily. USD/CAD is at 1.0022, and finds support at parity. The Canadian dollar enjoyed a huge leap in building permits, 15.3%, released at the same time. More on Canadian housing and jobs in a separate post – Canadian dollar at parity on building permits.
USD/JPY jumped with a gap and is now trading at 81.35.
Want to see what other traders are doing in real accounts? Check out Currensee. It’s free..