Today’s NFP report may have changed the outlook in terms of future Federal Reserve’s steps. The US economy added 943k jobs in July, the fastest pace since August 2020. The unemployment rate fell to 5.4% while wages advanced 4.0% YoY. The report indicates substantial progress on the US labour market - this may pressure the Fed to launch monetary policy normalisation soon. The employment growth is higher than it used to be before the pandemic, but the US economy still lacks 5-6 million jobs compared to pre-Covid times.
Meanwhile, gold prices plunged below key support at $1,790 / 1,800 an ounce on the stronger US dollar and rising US bond yields. The price of the precious metal fell to the lowest levels since early-July. In fact, it is very close to levels not seen since April! Gold traders have not witnessed such significant declines since mid-June.
Source: xStation5
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