In an unexpected development for economists and market analysts, the US labor market added significantly more jobs in May, pointing to economic strength despite other indicators of a slowdown. According to data recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 272 thousand non-agricultural jobs were created, exceeding forecasts of around 180 thousand jobs.
Paradoxically, the unemployment rate also saw an increase, rising from 3.9% to 4.0%. This increase can be interpreted as a sign that more people are looking for work, encouraged by emerging opportunities despite economic challenges.
This complex scenario places the Federal Reserve (Fed) in a delicate position, needing to balance between maintaining interest rates to control inflation and the need to support the economy. “They are really walking a tightrope here,” commented Robert Sockin, senior global economist at Citi. Sockin highlighted that maintaining rates for a prolonged period could lead to the emergence of new fissures in the economy.
In a more specific detail of the report, it is noted that the labor force participation rate fell slightly to 62.5%. However, the participation of workers of working age (25 to 54 years old) increased, reaching the highest level in 22 years.
The sectors that contributed most to the increase in jobs were health, with 68 thousand new jobs; the public sector, adding 43,000 jobs; and leisure and hospitality, with 42,000 new vacancies.
This report comes at a crucial time when the stock market was rising, driven by expectations of a possible interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. However, following the jobs data, investors adjusted their expectations, reducing the probability of an interest rate cut in September to 53%, down from 69% the previous day.
Following the publication of the report, Bitcoin suffered a 2% decline, falling from $72,150 to $70,660, which triggered significant sell-offs in the market. At the time of publication, the price of BTC was quoted at US$70,938.02 with a drop of 1% in the last 24 hours.
“More than $500 million in Bitcoin open interest was wiped out in minutes. Short and long positions have been liquidated,” reported IT Tech.
☠️ Over $500M of open interest wiped out within minutes.
✅ Shorts and longs were liquidated. Casinos must earn. 🎣 https://t.co/EzgSXWzMsO pic.twitter.com/961ZxvQA1f
— IT Tech (@IT_Tech_PL) June 7, 2024
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Source: https://portalcripto.com.br/empregos-nos-eua-aumentam-em-maio-desafiando-expectativas-bitcoin-cai-com-novo-relatorio/
