Dollar Not Responding to Employment Data

By Marc Chandler

The employment data was better than expected, but the dollar is not making much headway. The private sector added 62k and the July figure was revised up to 107k from 71k initially. The unemployment rate ticked up to 9.6% from 9.5%.

Manufacturing lost 27k jobs and this was disappointing. The market had expected a 10k increase. This is consistent with the moderation in the mfg sector seen recently. It points to a soft industrial output report. Construction added jobs (19k) for the first time in a few months. Average hourly earnings rose a healthy 0.3%, which is favorable for income and consumption.

The debt market is selling off hard, as the data means that (as already indicated)the Fed will be in no hurry to renew its asset purchase scheme. On the other hand, the selloff in US Treasuries is spilling over and weighing on European bonds, limiting the impact on the differentials.

The risk-on attitude is clearer in the currencies and the yen and Swiss franc have suffered against the dollar and on the crosses.

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