The data released today showed that US non-farm payrolls lost 33 K jobs in September, against expectations of adding 90K jobs. August data was revised up from 156 to 169K jobs.
Unemployment fell to its lowest level since 2001 at 4.2%, better than the 4.4% forecast. Average hourly earnings rose on a monthly basis by 0.5% in September exceeding expectations of 0.3%, after rising by 0.2% in August, and on an annual basis wages rose by 2.9%.
The sharp drop in employment was due to Harvey & Irma Hurricanes hitting the US coasts last month. In the wake of the data, the US dollar rose slightly, despite some positive data, but the loss of jobs impacted the movement clearly, as the dollar index rose just about 20 Pips to reach the levels of 94.
