Highlights of the January non-farm payrolls report

  • Prior was 148K (revised to 160K)
  • Unemployment rate 4.1% vs 4.1% exp
  • Participation rate 62.7% vs 62.7% prior
  • Underemployment rate 8.2% vs 8.1% exp
  • Private payrolls 196K vs 181K exp
  • Prior private payrolls revised to 166K from 146K
  • Benchmark revisions added an extra 118K jobs in 2017

Wages:

  • Average hourly earnings 2.9% y/y vs 2.6% exp
  • Average hourly earnings +0.3% m/m vs +0.2% m/m exp
  • Prior avg hourly earnings revised to 2.7% from 2.5%
  • Prior avg hourly earnings revised to +0.4% vs +0.3%
  • Hours worked 34.3 compared to 34.5 expected

It's all about the wages number and the US dollar jumped on the first signs of a genuine acceleration in wages.

Best wage growth since the crisis:

The US dollar is higher across the board after the data.