August NFP Data Rises More Than Expected! What's Happening In The Market?

<p>&nbsp;The United States added more jobs than expected in August, a sign of resilience for the labor market despite pressure from interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.</p><p><br /></p><p>The NFP data rose by 187,000 positions for the month, higher than the Dow Jones estimate of 170,000, as reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, the unemployment rate was 3.8%, up significantly from July and the highest since February 2022. This increase occurred while the labor market participation rate rose to 62.8%, the highest since February 2020, before the declaration of the Covid pandemic.</p><p><br /></p><p>Average hourly earnings increased by 0.2% for the month and 4.3% from a year ago. Both were below estimates of 0.3% and 4.4% respectively.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Stock market futures related to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 172 points or 0.5%. S&amp;P 500 futures rose 0.6%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.6%.</p><p><br /></p><p>In summary, the latest report on US non-farm payrolls showed the unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.8% in August, reaching its highest level in more than a year. Even so, employment grew at a faster-than-expected pace last month, with the addition of 187,000 jobs.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bond yields fell after the report was released, as investors appeared to bet that the new data could prevent the Fed from raising interest rates further. The 2-year bond yield fell 7 basis points to 4.79%, and the benchmark 10-year yield fell 2 basis points to 4.075%.</p><p><br /></p><p>The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against six major currencies, traded lower after the report was released at a trading level of 103,290.</p>