The US Nonfarm Payrolls Change report came in slightly better than expected with 143K in employment gains versus 126K for September. This was also higher than the net job gain of 103,000 jobs in the previous month.
This was the first better-than-expected reading in the past five months, as the manufacturing sector added to its positions for the first time since April while only the information industry recorded losses.
Link to ADP’s September Nonfarm Employment Report
Components of the report also revealed that wage growth came in at 4.7% year over year, down from August’s annual wage gain of 7.6%.
Chief Economist at ADP Nella Richardson reported “Stronger hiring did not necessitate stronger wage growth last month. Typically, workers who change jobs see faster wage growth. But their premium for stayers shrank to 1.9%, which is consistent with the low level last seen in January.
Market reactions
Overlay of the US dollar against major currencies Chart by TradingView
The US dollar, which had been moving sideways against the majority of its peers (excluding the yen and franc) before the ADP report, gained some support after seeing stronger than expected headline numbers.
USD/JPY and USD/CHF rose from their short consolidation and extended their gains while the dollar managed to hold on to its gains after ADP in the next few hours. However, the USD/CAD pair continued to move sideways, as the oil-linked Canadian dollar also benefited from gains in the energy commodity.