The U.S. dollar posted strong gains on Friday fuelled by strong wage growth and overall positive sentiment for the currency. The official payrolls report for the month of August showed that the U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs during the beat.
This beat estimates of a 191k forecast. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.9% while the average hourly earnings doubled to rise 0.4%, beating estimates of a 0.2% increase.
On a year over year basis, average earnings rose 2.9% in August.
Canada’s jobs report was also released on Friday. Data showed that the economy shed 51.6k jobs during August with the unemployment rate rising to 6.0%.
Elsewhere, volatility spiked in the British pound once again on Brexit headlines but the cable soon eased back to give up its gains.
Earlier today, Japan released its final quarterly GDP figures. As expected, there were no revisions with the economy rising 0.7% in the second quarter. The data comes ahead of the BoJ’s meeting due the week after.
China’s inflation figures were also released. Data showed that headline CPI rose 2.3% beating estimates of a 2.1% increase. Producer prices jumped 4.1%, in line with estimates but slower than 4.6% from the month before.
Later in the day, the UK’s monthly GDP report will be released. Economists forecast a 0.2% increase on the month for August. The data is followed by industrial, manufacturing and construction output.
The NY trading session is relatively quiet for the day
