Employment and Workforce
3 Major employment and workforce-related economic data
Non-Farm Payrolls data is the most important workforce data affecting the markets each month
Released on the 1st Friday of each month
Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP)
Measure number of jobs created outside farming sector.
Obtained from surveying 400,000 companies and government agencies.
NFP UP => Income UP => Spending UP => Inflation UP => Interest Rates UP => USD UP
NFP DOWN => Income DOWN => Spending DOWN => Inflation DOWN => Interest Rates DOWN => USD DOWN
Unemployment Rate
Measure Monthly Change in the job Market.
Obtained from surveying more than 60,000 households.
Usually lags 1-3 months before economic slowdown.
Unemployment DOWN => Income UP => Spending UP => Inflation UP => Interest rates UP => USD UP
Unemployment UP => Income DOWN => Spending DOWN => Inflation DOWN => Interest rates DOWN => USD DOWN
Weekly Claims
Measures number of unemployment benefits claimed each week.
Claims > 400k for few weeks signal slowdown.
Claims < 400k for few weeks signal economic recovery.
There are 2 data to look out for: initial claims and continuing claims
Claims UP => Income DOWN => Spending DOWN => Inflation DOWN => Interest rates DOWN => USD DOWN
Claims DOWN => Income UP => Spending UP => Inflation UP => Interest rates UP => USD UP
