Non-Farm Employment Change reported a loss of 20,000 jobs for January 2010, worse than expectations of an increase of 10,000 jobs. December 2009’s figure was revised significantly, from -85,000 to -150,000.
This was disappointing news, but despite the loss in number of jobs, the unemployment rate was reported to have improved, coming in at 9.7%. Previous and expectations were both 10.0%. The drop in unemployment is likely due to a decreasing number of people seeking jobs, or possibly just an effect of the unemployment rates being seasonally adjusted. Unadjusted, the unemployment rate increased, which is what one would expect, to 10.6%.
The broader unemployment rate, U-6, came in at 16.5% seasonally adjusted and 18.0% unadjusted.
“Employment fell in construction and in transportation and warehousing, while temporary help services and retail trade added jobs.”
Sources:
Bureau of Labor Statistics – Employment Situation Summary
BLS – Table A-15.Alternative measures of labor underutilization
The mixed numbers will not do much if anything to inspire confidence, nor are they poor enough to cause a sell off. The markets didn’t know which way to react right on the news, but the USD and JPY have continued to strengthen afterward. Expect this risk aversion to continue and look for opportunities to buy the USD and/or JPY against higher yielding currencies.
