On Friday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics published a rather upbeat report on the labor market. In June, 222,000 jobs were created in the non-agricultural sector of the country. Market expectations were at 179,000. The growth in the average hourly wage was 0.2% compared to the previous value of 0.1%. The unemployment rate slightly increased to 4.4%. At the same time, the share of the economically active population increased to 62.8%.
Last week, the pound showed a negative dynamics against the backdrop of the publication of weak business activity reports in the UK. On Friday, GBP/USD fell by more than 80 points. In May, the output of manufacturing industry in the UK fell by 0.2%. Experts expected the growth rate of 0.5%.
Over the last two weeks, the Canadian dollar has increased against the US currency by more than 350 points. Participants of the financial markets expect that the Bank of Canada will raise its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.75%. The meeting of the Central Bank will be held on Wednesday, July 12. On Friday, support for the currency of Canada was provided by positive statistics on the labor market.
Market Indicators
On Friday, the bullish sentiment prevailed on the US stock market. SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY)) increased by 0.65%.
At the moment, the 10-Year US government bonds yield is at 2.38-2.39%.
The news background is calm today
In the current trading week, the attention will be focused on the speech of Fed's Chairman Yellen and reports on inflation and retail sales in the US.