The U.S. ADP non-farm employment change report came in slightly better than expected with 143K in hiring gains versus the 126K consensus for September. This was also higher than the previous month’s 103K net increase in jobs.
This marked the first better-than-expected reading in the last five months, as the manufacturing sector added positions for the first time since April while only the information industry reported losses.
Link to ADP Non-farm Employment Report for September
Components of the report also revealed that pay growth came in at 4.7% year-on-year, down from August’s 7.6% annual wage gains.
ADP chief economist Nela Richardson mentioned that “Stronger hiring didn’t require stronger pay growth last month. Typically, workers who change jobs see faster pay growth. But their premium over job-stayers shrank to 1.9 percent, matching a low we last saw in January.”
Market Reactions
Overlay of USD vs. Major Currencies Chart by TradingView
The U.S. dollar, which had been moving sideways against majority of its counterparts (except against the yen and franc) ahead of the ADP report, drew some support after stronger than expected headline figures were seen.
USD/JPY and USD/CHF broke higher from their brief consolidation and extended their rallies while the dollar managed to hold on to its post-ADP gains in the next few hours. USD/CAD continued to tread sideways, however, as the oil-related Loonie also took advantage of the energy commodity’s rallies.