Jobs are reduced by 140,000 in December against expectations of an increase of 71,000

The December employment report showed a negative surprise, in line with what the ADP data had been, showing a drop of 140,000 jobs, compared to the market consensus which was for an increase of 71,000. However, a negative reading was being discounted following previous employment data released this week. The December reading was the first negative since April, month in which more than 20 million jobs were destroyed.

On the positive, October figures were revised up from 610,000 to 654,000 and November figures from 245,000 to 336,000.

Regarding the unemployment rate, this remained at 6.7% against the expected increase to 6.8%. The labor participation rate it remained at 61.5%. With respect to income There was a rise of 5.1% compared to a year ago, higher than the 4.4% expected, this after the rise of 0.8% in December.

He dollar the market fell back after the data, putting the recovery in doubt. Metals extended the slide, with gold testing the European session lows below $ 1860.

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