US JUNE JOBS REPORT KEY POINTS:
- U.S. employers add 372,000 payrolls in June, above expectations of a gain of 268,000 jobs
- The unemployment rate holds steady at 3.6%, in line with market forecasts
- Average hourly earnings advances 0.3% on a monthly basis, bringing the annual figure to 5.1% from 5.3% in May
Most Read: NFP and Forex: What is NFP and How to Trade It? [1]
MARKET REACTION - UPDATED AT 8:55 AM ET
Immediately after the NFP[2] report crossed the wires, U.S. Treasury yields rose on expectations that strong job creation will lead the Federal Reserve to continue raising rates aggressively to contain runaway inflation. Meanwhile, S&P 500[3] futures extended pre-market losses, down about 0.8% at the time of writing. The higher interest rate environment may undermine risk assets in the short term, but the the healthy labor market should limit the downside; after all, the data suggest that the economy is not yet on the verge of collapse, as many economists had feared.
S&P 500 FUTURES CHART
Source: TradingView
ORIGINAL POST AT 8:35 AM ET
The U.S. labor market remained robust last month despite a rapid cooling of economic activity, caused in part by tightening financial conditions in response to the Federal Reserve's aggressive hiking cycle aimed at crushing rampant inflationary forces in the economy.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. employers added 372,000 workers in June, above the expected forecast of 268,000, following a downwardly revised increase of 384,000 jobs in May. With this result, which can be considered healthy by all accounts given the late stage in the business cycle, the jobless rate held unchanged at 3.6%, signaling that the market is at or near full-employment.
