U.S. Unemployment Rate Rises To 3.6%; Bitcoin Price Spikes

The United States has reportedly added 311,000 jobs during the month of February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent data on nonfarm payrolls. This is relatively far more than the 225,000 jobs that economists had predicted would be added; although being lower than the previously reported 517,000 jobs in January. The reported unemployment rate has increased to 3.6% which is the lowest level since May 1969.

Recession On Hold For Now?

Despite the massive wave of layoffs that affected some of the biggest firms in the country, the unemployment rate surprisingly dropped and more jobs were added back to the labor market than anticipated in January. These changes contributed to indications that the American economy might not be slowing down any time soon and the Federal Reserve could continue with its 25 bps rate hike — as opposed to the growing speculation of a 50 bps rate hike following the recent Fed chair testimony at the U.S. Senate Hearing.

FED SWAPS DOWNGRADE ODDS OF 50BP MARCH RATE HIKE TO UNDER 50%

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) March 10, 2023

Market Reaction

Markets across sectors witnessed a significant uptick in price as the nonfarm payroll data was released. The announcement caused a brief spike in the price of Bitcoin (BTC), which resulted in an increase of 1.13% over the past 30 minutes, in contrast to a decline of 7.42% over the course of the previous 24 hours. At the time of writing, BTC is currently trading at $20,037.

The price of Ethereum (ETH), on the other hand, is presently exchanging hands at $1,407, reporting a gain of 1.04% over the past 30 minutes while registering a notable drop of 8.32% over the last 24 hours. In response to the news, major altcoins such as XRP, DOGE and BNB and also experienced a surge in value.

Moreover, the U.S. stock index futures turned green in volatile trading following the release of the jobs data. Major indexes including S&P500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 futures recorded positive momentum.

This is a developing story and is being frequently updated.

Pratik has been a crypto evangelist since 2016 & been through almost all that crypto has to offer. Be it the ICO boom, bear markets of 2018, Bitcoin halving to till now – he has seen it all.

The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.