Summary:
- US economy adds 136k new jobs in September
- Jobless rate unexpectedly falls to 3.5% from 3.7%
- Wage growth disappoints producing a 2.9% YoY rise
The US economy added 136k new jobs in the non-farm sector in September, the number was only marginally lower than the median Bloomberg estimate at 145k. At the same time, we got a noticeable upward revision to August (to 168k from 130k), while the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 3.5% from 3.7% with no change in labour participation. On the other hand, annual wage growth slowed down to 2.9% from 3.2%, bringing a wide disappointment as the consensus had pointed to no change. The initial move in the US dollar is to the upside, though US yields have barely moved. Overall, the report showed that the labour market remains still quite resilient amid a dismal performance elsewhere.
The USDJPY has jumped to some extent following the reading. Source: xStation5