Non-Farm Payroll figures (NFP) is probably the most-anticipated monthly report by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. In short, it gives us a look at whether the US economy is expanding or contracting based on the employment changes.
The NFP was forecasted to increase by 201k in the month of September, but actual numbers from the September report (released October 2, 2015) shows that NFP employment increased by only 142k during the month of September. This marked the smallest two-month gain in over a year. The unemployment rate was unchanged (5.1%).
People seem to have mixed feelings about the report. While some were expecting the slow growth, others are worried about the US economy given some recent solid economic data.
The EURUSD shot up 130 pips after the NFP report was released at 8AM EST (shown and marked in the graph below), but now looks to be on its way back towards the pre-news prices.
Those who were expecting the weaker employment growth seem to think that the USD may continue to drop over the next six months.
Regardless whether or not the bad NFP numbers result in weaker movements of the USD for the next few months (or exactly the opposite), our team will wait until a clear trend resumes on the EURUSD before making any trades.
