The Bureau of Labor Statistics in the US (BLS) is scheduled to deliver the final jobs report for 2019 this Friday. The findings of the report would demonstrate the observed changes in unemployment for December of last year.
The current market expectations project the unemployment rate to have remained unchanged from its current rate at 3.5 per cent, which was somewhat surprisingly recorded in November.
Meanwhile, the newly created jobs are excepted to have reached 150 000, which would be a substantial deterioration from the 266 000, which were registered in the previous month.
Nevertheless, the labour conditions in the country are anticipated to remain quite robust. The American economy is more than likely to continue developing on its current course of sustainability and growth, even if at a slower pace.
December is usually quite an active month for growth in the retail sector, as customer spending typically peaks around the festive period. Consequently, a surge in seasonal jobs at the end of the year is also to be anticipated.
If the Non-Farm Payrolls data meets the consensus forecasts on Friday, the US dollar is likely to be further bolstered by the end of the week.
The greenback was strengthened since the beginning of the year, as the escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf between the US and Iran following the killing of Qassem Soleimani resulted in rising investors’ concerns.
The immediate outlook for many majors involving the USD is directly being influenced by those fundamentals and Friday’s jobs report could very likely bolster the already heightened volatility.
The EURUSD is currently consolidating just below the major resistance level at 1.11700 after the price rebounded from the 61.8 per cent Fibonacci retracement level at 1.12087.
If the NFP proves to be as robust as expected, the pair is likely to test the strength of that price level once again before the end of the week.