The US dollar is rising to close out the trading week, thanks to a stronger-than-expected October jobs report. The positive labor report comes shortly after the latest economic data showed that it is slowing down less than what the market anticipates. But manufacturing continues to impact the worldâs largest economy and its monthly jobs numbers.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the US economy added 128,000 new jobs last month, down from the upwardly revised 180,000 gains in September. This figure topped the median estimate of just 89,000. The unemployment rate ticked up 0.1% to 3.6%, which is being attributed to more people entering the workforce.
The biggest job gains were situated in food and beverage, financial services, and social assistance. The largest declines were located in automobile and motor vehicle parts manufacturing.
The US government also reported that average hourly earnings jumped 0.2%, or six cents, to $28.18. This lifts the 12-month rate to 3%. The labor force participation rate edged up 0.1% to 63.3% and average weekly hours were flat at 34.4 hours.
Despite mostly positive data, the manufacturing sector continues to be battered. In October, manufacturing payrolls cratered 36,000, which is greater than the 5,000 loss in September. The upside, however, is that the decline in manufacturing jobs was less than the consensus of 50,000.
Soon after the October jobs numbers were out, the US Dollar Index surged 0.1% to 97.45, from an opening of 97.30.
On Wednesday, the third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) came in at a stronger-than-expected clip of 1.9%, though it was down from 2% in the second quarter.
The USD/CAD currency pair climbed 0.18% to 1.3189, from an opening of 1.3163, at 12:46 GMT on Friday. The EUR/USD tumbled 0.13% to 1.1137, from an opening of 1.1153.
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