Bitcoin Tumbles Following Stronger-Than-Expected August Jobs Report — Market Talk

0929 ET - The August jobs report showed much stronger hiring than expected, at 162,000 with the unemployment rate steady at 4.1%. The data lifted long and short term rates and the U.S. dollar index. Meanwhile, riskier assets like bitcoin, which had a positive week up until now, are taking a hit. Bitcoin is back down below the $80,000 mark, trading off 2.4% to $79,531. Nevertheless, in its jump to $80k last month, bitcoin appears to have reignited a bull market, says analysts with CryptoQuant. "Exchange activity accelerated…. with derivatives positioning, whale inflows and spot-market deposits all increasing as market participation broadened," says the firm. ([email protected])0925 ET - Canada shed nearly 42,000 jobs in August, or a partial reversal from the 75,000 employment gain in the prior month. CIBC Capital Markets says that, on a 3-, 6- and 12-month average, job growth is hovering around 20,000 a month, or above the pace of population growth. "That is consistent with the gradual improvement in the unemployment rate that we have seen," says CIBC economist Andrew Grantham. Still, the August drop coincides with other indicators pointing to a weak beginning to 3Q and an escalation in the U.S.-Canada trade conflict. Grantham says this provides confidence that the Bank of Canada will keep its policy rate on hold through 2026 even though BOC worries over inflation have intensified. ([email protected], @paulvieira)0920 ET - It has been a much better job market for Canadian students. The unemployment rate for students returning to school stood at 15.6% in August, down 1.3 percentage points from 12 months earlier. On average from May to August, the jobless rate for returning students was 15.9% against 17.9% during the same period in 2025. The fall in the unemployment rate was most pronounced for older students, with the rate for those aged 20 to 24 at 9.2% against 12.3% last summer. Still, overall employment for youth in Canada fell by 19,000, or 0.7%, in August, and the unemployment rate for those 15 to 24 edged up 0.3 percentage point to 12.9% after a net decline of 1.7 points from April to July. ([email protected]; @RobbMStewart)0918 ET - Hot August U.S. employment numbers, coupled with upward revisions for July, "means that if the inflation picture dictates a rate hike, the Fed will be comfortable that the labor market is strong enough to withstand it," AllianceBernstein's Eric Winograd says in a note. The numbers show that "labor market remains on solid footing." Winograd adds, however, that he sees "no obvious evidence that the economy is overheating." Odds of an interest rate increase are 50-50 after the jobs report, he says. ([email protected])0914 ET - In a labor market with low hiring and low firing, it's hard for some Americans to get back into the market once they're locked out. In the household survey from Friday's jobs report, 27% of unemployed people have been jobless for 27 weeks or more. This figure has largely hovered around that range for about a year.([email protected])0904 ET - The information industry has the bleakest showing in an otherwise upbeat jobs report for August. Employment in the industry declined by 23,000 jobs that month, a big drop off from the 8,000-job decline it was averaging over the prior 12 months, according to the Labor Department. Computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting and related services saw 8,000 job decline by themselves in August. Publishing industries took a 7,000-job hit and broadcasting and content providers bled 5,000 positions. Other sectors saw big gains were little changed. Restaurants and bars were among the biggest gainers, picking up 59,000 new jobs in August, well above their average monthly gain of 12,000 in the past year. ([email protected])0852 ET - Gold futures fall following a U.S. employment report showing a much bigger-than-expected 162,000 increase in August payrolls and upward revisions to the previous two months. An easing in Treasury yields and weaker dollar had helped lift gold the previous two sessions as investors awaited the closely watched jobs numbers. Yields are up and the dollar is stronger following the report. Gold for December delivery is down 2.4% in New York at $4,429.50 a troy ounce. Silver falls 2.7% to $65.875 a troy ounce. ([email protected])0851 ET - Treasury yields and the dollar jump as job creation in the U.S. jumps to 162,000 in August, beating WSJ consensus of 53,000. July's previously reported 23,000 job destruction is revised to 21,000 jobs created. Unemployment was unchanged at 4.1%. The data adds to expectations that the Fed could raise rates this month, although inflation gauges next week will also be influential. Yields had been dropping before the data and sharply reversed course. The 30-year yield is at 5.258%, the 10-year at 4.802% and the two-year at 4.412%. The WSJ Dollar Index moves from flat to up 0.2%. ([email protected]; @ptrevisani)0849 ET - Pay in Canada doesn't look to adding any inflationary pressure to the economy, which will be welcome news for policymakers keeping an eye on elevated fuel prices. Average hourly wages rose by 2% on-year in August, which is much softer than consumer price inflation that has accelerated to 3% and the top end of the 1%-3% window the Bank of Canada aims at. This is a sharp slowdown from average wage growth of 2.8% in July and 3.3% in June. August's wage growth was the slowest pace since November 2017, excluding during the pandemic in 2021. ([email protected]; @RobbMStewart)0849 ET - Yields on U.K. government bonds climb, tracking their U.S. peers, after stronger-than-expected U.S. non-farm payrolls data raised the possibility of the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates in September. The U.S. added 162,000 jobs in August, above the consensus forecast by economists in a WSJ poll for 53,000 additional jobs. Investors raised their expectations of the Fed hiking interest rates in September to 61% following the jobs data, from 50% beforehand, LSEG data show. Ten-year gilt yields rise to last trade at 5.163%, around 1 basis point higher on the day, from 5.133% prior to the data release, Tradeweb data show. ([email protected])0845 ET - The dollar rises sharply after much-awaited U.S. jobs data showed the economy created many more jobs than expected in August. This raises the prospect that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates in the coming months, possibly as early as this month. U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 162,000 last month, way above the consensus in a WSJ poll for a much more moderate rise of 53,000. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1%. The DXY dollar index, which measures the dollar's value against a basket of currencies, rose to an intraday high of 99.932, up 0.5% on the day, from around 99.035 beforehand. The euro falls to $1.1583, from around $1.1623 beforehand, LSEG data showed. ([email protected])0844 ET - The August jobs report came in better than expected, and June and July were better than previously reported, too. June's report was revised up by 11,000 to 31,000. The change for July was revised up by 44,000 to 21,000, reversing a previously reported decline in jobs. Taken together, employment in the summer months was 55,000 higher than first reported. ([email protected])