Forex News

US non-farm payrolls rose 266k, unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%

US Non-Farm Payroll report showed 266k growth in November, well above expectation of 183K. Job growth averaged 180k per months thus far in 2019, versus 223k monthly average in 2018. Manufacturing jobs rose 54k, versus -43k contraction back in November.

Unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, down from 3.6%, better than expectation of 3.6%. That also matches the lowest since 1969Participation rate was little changed at 63.2%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% mom in November, below expectation of 0.3% mom.

Canada employment dropped -71.2k, unemployment rate surged to 5.9%

Canada employment dropped -71.2k in November, well below expectation of 10.0k. Unemployment rate surged to 5.9%, up from 5.5% and was way worst than expectation of 5.5%. Employment declined in Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia, while it was little changed in the other provinces.

In the goods-producing sector, fewer people worked in manufacturing (-28k) and in natural resources (-6.5k), with most of the declines in each of these industries observed in Quebec. The employment decrease in the services-producing sector was mostly accounted for by public administration, where the number of workers fell by -25k.

Germany industrial production dropped -1.7% in October

Released in European session, Germany industrial production dropped -1.7% mom in October, well below expectation of 0.2% mom. France trade deficit narrowed to EUR -4.7B in October, versus expectation of EUR -4.8B. Italy retail sales dropped -0.2% mom in October, below expectation of 0.5% mom. Swiss foreign currency reserves rose to CHF 783B in November, up from CHF 779B.

Japan household spending dropped -5.1%, due to sales tax hike

A batch of economic data is released from Japan today. Overall household spending dropped -5.1% yoy in October, worse than expectation of -3.0% yoy. The decline in spending was the first time in 11 month, and biggest fall since March 2016. It’s also a sharp reversal from the 9.5% rise in September, fastest growth on record.

Apparently, the September and October figures were results of the sales tax hike in October, from 8% to 10%. Additionally, impacts from typhoon also accelerated the decline in spending. Overall spending might contract as a whole Q4, before some moderate pick up in Q1.

Also released, labor cash earnings rose 0.5% yoy in October, above expectation of 0.2% yoy. Leading indicator dropped -0.1 to 91.8, below expectation of 92.0.

Australia AiG construction dropped to 40, 15th straight month of contraction

Australia AiG Performance of Construction Index dropped to 40.0 in November, down from 43.9. The result indicates sharper decline in the construction industry on aggregate. It’s also the 15th straight month of contractionary reading. As AiG said, “this on-going weakness in business conditions was associated with a steeper fall in employment and a continued reduction in deliveries from suppliers.”