US Dollar Tanks as August NFPs Miss Big, Although Unemployment Rate Falls

THE TAKEAWAY: USD Change in Nonfarm Payrolls and Unemployment Rate (AUG) > +96K versus +130K expected, UR to 8.1% from 8.3% > USDJPY BEARISH

Yesterday’s ADP Employment Change report for August, coming in at +201K, raised expectations for a strong official labor market reading today. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly report was nothing short of disappointing. Nonfarm Payrolls grew by +96K in August, well-below the forecasted +130K rate, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Conversely, the Unemployment Rate fell to 8.1% from 8.3%, but this is due to a contracting participation rate, as -386K dropped out of the labor market last month.

USDJPY 1-minute Chart: September 7, 2012

Charts Created using Marketscope – Prepared by Christopher Vecchio

In the wake of the report, the US Dollar declined across the board, with the bulk of its losses coming against the British Pound, the Euro, and the Japanese Yen: the GBPUSD rallied from 1.5949 to as high as 1.5991; the EURUSD rallied from 1.2713 to as high as 1.2775; and the USDJPY plummeted from 78.89 to as low as 78.23. If to confirm the US Dollar weakness, Gold surged from $1696.69/oz to as high as $1728.25/oz.

--- Written by Christopher Vecchio,

Currency Analyst

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