U.S dollar index climbs to 98.60 on Friday following better than expected non-farm employment change

The U.S economic data continues to fuel strength to the greenback in the forex market. On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the U.S non-farm employment change in January to have been better than what the analysts had anticipated. The report further hinted at the U.S economy extending its growth at a reasonable pace.  

Construction Sector Took The Lead With Maximum Positions Added In January

The Labor Department highlighted a total of 225,000 new jobs created in January with the construction sector taking the lead in adding the most positions. Experts attributed the better than expected performance of the U.S economy to the not-so-harsh temperatures that encouraged greater employment. As per Reuters, analysts had expected the employment change (non-farm) to print at 160,000 in January. As per December’s revised data, 147,000 new positions were created in this niche in the U.S last month.

The U.S unemployment rate, on the other hand, ticked marginally higher to 3.6% in January. Following December’s 3.5%, economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain steady in January.

Friday’s data also reported the rate of labor force participation in the United States to have slightly climbed to 63.4% in January. The reading was recorded at 63.2% in December. The average hourly wages paid to the private sector employees is an important indicator for the economy at large. January’s data highlighted average hourly wages to have improved by 0.2% after a 0.1% increase in December. Analysts had expected a 0.3% gain in average hourly wages in January.

Average Hourly Wages Climbed To $28.44 In January Versus December’s $28.37

Average hourly wages for private workers were reported at $28.37 in December that have now been improved to $28.44 in January. In terms of year over year gain, hourly wages improved by 3.1% as compared to the 3% consensus.

The economic data on Friday saw considerable gains in the U.S dollar index. The index remained upbeat on Friday surging from a daily low of around 98.30 to a daily high of 98.60 after the release of the economic data. The gain was reported sustainable as the index closed the week near the daily high.

Consequently, EUR/USD saw a sharp decline in the forex market on Friday. The currency pair dropped from a daily high of 1.0985 to a low of 1.0940. EUR/USD was unable to recover the loss and closed the week at around 1.0945. With a weekly close below the 1.10 mark, the currency pair currently has a bearish outlook in the near-term.