Today February NFP report is to be published at 13:30 GMT from the United States.
What is the NFP report?
- NFP or non-farm payroll report is the monthly statistics on labor condition in the US released by the US department of labor statistics. The report comprises goods, construction, and manufacturing sector companies.
- This report influences the financial markets deeply across asset class since it is one of the key economic indicators that remains under close vigilance of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Key highlights –
- The headline number for total hires last month was 304,000. February ADP employment number not so encouraging at 183,000.
- Today Headline payroll is expected at 180,000.
- A second most vital component is wage growth which has shown very healthy growth of 3.2 percent in the last report Today expected at 3.3 percent y/y.
- Labor force participation rate is very low at 63.2 percent.
- The unemployment rate is expected to decline to 3.9 percent from 4 percent.
- Underemployment rate rose in the last report to 8.1 percent from 7.6 percent. Vital to watch out for at today’s report.
- Average weekly hours were previous 34.5; no change expected today.
Impact –
- The immediate impact is usually very volatile and likely to affect the majority of the asset classes.
- A better than expected report especially the headline number (above 210,000) and wage growth will definitely push USD higher.
- The dollar could suffer setback along with U.S. equities on a materially weak report of headline below 140,000. The dollar index is currently trading at 97.48, down 0.12 percent so far today.
