BREAKING: NFP payrolls skyrocket 🚀 EURUSD back in red 📉

02:30 PM CET, United States, NFP report for March:

• Nonfarm Payrolls Actual 178k (Forecast 65k, Previous -92k)

  • Private Payrolls Actual 186k (Forecast 78k, Previous -86k)

  • Government Payrolls Actual -8k (Previous -6k)

  • Manufacturing Payrolls Actual 15k (Forecast -5k, Previous -12k)

• Unemployment Rate Actual 4.3% (Forecast 4.4%, Previous 4.4%)

• Labor Force Participation Actual 61.9% (Forecast 62%, Previous 62.0%)

• Average Earnings YoY Actual 3.5% (Forecast 3.7%, Previous 3.8%)

The latest NFP report delivered stunning headline numbers, though substantial revisions to the previous two months highlight ongoing data volatility and a "foggy" outlook for the economy walking into a supply energy shock.

The Highlights:

• Massive Beat: Total payrolls crushed expectations, exceeding the consensus by nearly 3x. This surge more than compensated for last month’s negative reading.

• Unemployment Drop: The closely watched unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked back down to 4.3%.

The Gloomy Side:

• Participation Slump: The labor participation rate decreased unexpectedly.

• Discouraged Workers: There was a significant spike of 144,000 "discouraged workers" (those who have stopped looking for work believing no jobs are available).

• Slower Wage Growth: Average hourly earnings slowed more than anticipated. This suggests that despite the "stunning" headline job numbers, workers may be losing their bargaining power—likely feeling less confident about demanding raises amidst the current geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

  • The Fed's "Breathing Room": From a monetary policy perspective, this is a silver lining. It suggests that the energy price shock (driven by the Iran conflict) might not immediately trigger a "wage-price spiral," potentially giving the Fed some room to maneuver.

  • The Stagflationary Threat: However, there is a flip side for the consumer. If wage growth stalls while energy and food prices remain elevated, we face a stagflationary bottleneck. Persistent price pressure combined with weakening purchasing power could severely crimp long-term consumption.

• Mixed Revisions: Revisions were a mixed bag. January was revised up to 160k, while February was slashed to -133k. The combined net effect for those two months is 7k lower than previously reported.

EURUSD (M30)

The immediate reaction brought EURUSD sharply down, as raw data pushed markets to trim their bets on Fed cutting interest rates in 2026, supporting the US dollar. The price later settled at approx. 1.1530, with details proving challenging to navigate the US economic outlook. The pair is down margianlly from yesterday's close (-0.05%).

Source: xStation5