The USD Gets Another Boost from Better Employment Numbers

Yesterday we saw another soft JOLTS job openings report, which added to the recent signs of weakness in the labour sector. However, this sector remains strong, as today, ADP employment and unemployment claims numbers showed. The USD has been bullish so far this week and buyers had another go after the data, pushing the high versus the JPY to 144.86.

It’s the third day of big increases in that pair to start the week, and it’s being supported today by the earthquake that hit Japan and by an 8 basis point increase in 10-year rates which pushed above 4% again earlier today. The current round of increases followed lower-than-expected jobless benefit claims and stronger-than-expected job growth in the ADP data.

Unemployment Claims declined to 202K from 220K previously, compared to 216K predicted, while ADP employment was +164K, compared to +115K projected. Before the report, the USD/JPY was trading at 114.20, and it has subsequently risen to a session high of 144.86. Gold fell below $2,040, reaching $2,036.20s, triggering the take profit target on our sell Gold signal which we opened after the employment reports were released.

Weekly Claims for the Week Ending December 30, 2023

ADP National Employment for December 164K versus 115K Expected

• ADP national employment for December 164K versus 115K expected
• Prior month 101K versus 103K previously reported

The median change in annual pay

• Job stayers 5.4% versus 5.8% last month
• Job changers 8.0% versus 8.3% last month