245k new jobs/month is still a decent level

US Employment Cools Off in November, Earnings Increase

Posted Friday, December 4, 2020 by
Skerdian Meta • 1 min read

245k new jobs/month is still a decent level

The US employment report for November was released a while ago and it was quite mixed. The unemployment rate fell, but so did the participation rate, which balance each-other out. Earnings on the other hand increased, which is a positive factor. But the cool off in new jobs was quite large, which is is weighing on the USD again.

November non-farm employment +245K vs +460K expected
October non-farm employment was 638K
Unemployment rate November 6.7% vs 6.8% expected
October unemployment rate 6.9%
Participation rate 61.5% vs 61.7% expected
Prior participation rate 61.7%

The participation rate declined by 2 points last month, so if participation would have held steady, the unemployment rate would have risen 0.1%.

Underemployment rate 12.1% vs 12.1% prior
Average hourly earnings MoM +0.3% vs +0.1% expected
Average hourly earnings YoY +4.4% vs +4.2% expected
Average weekly hours 34.8 vs 34.8 expected
Two month net revision +11K
Change in private payrolls +344K vs +540K expected
Change in manufacturing payrolls +27K vs +40K expected
Government jobs -99K with 93K of those temporary census workers
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 385,000 to 3.9 million

The FX market isn’t quite sure what to do with this. There’s a touch of US dollar weakness but it’s a mixed bag. Traders bought the USD initially after the report was released, but then it reversed lower and is declining across the board at the moment.

Check out our free forex signals

Follow the top economic events on FX Leaders economic calendar

Trade better, discover more Forex Trading Strategies

About the author

Skerdian Meta // Lead Analyst
Skerdian Meta Lead Analyst. Skerdian is a professional Forex trader and a market analyst. He has been actively engaged in market analysis for the past 11 years. Before becoming our head analyst, Skerdian served as a trader and market analyst in Saxo Bank's local branch, Aksioner. Skerdian specialized in experimenting with developing models and hands-on trading. Skerdian has a masters degree in finance and investment.