Employment numbers for the latter half of 2015 prompted the Federal Reserve to hike the Fed Funds rate for the first time since 2006. Macroeconomic indicators have weakened since the December hike, which has resulted in a cooling of the Federal Reserve’s forward guidance policy. However, market participants are speculating about a March hike after a very positive private payrolls report. If the NFP beats expectations the dollar will likely rally in support of another rate hike.
Investor Notes: Non-Farm Payroll, 1330 GMT.
- Non-Farm Payrolls are expected to rise significantly when compared with January’s figure; new jobs are set to rise by 195,000 compared with 151,000 for the previous month.
- February’s private payroll report significantly exceeded expectations rising to 214,000 new jobs created from an expected 185,000.
- ISM Manufacturing PMI also outstripped expectations in February surging to 49.5, from a previous reading of 48.2, with the employment component rising 2.6 points.
The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 4.9% for the second consecutive month.
