Fundamental Update: NFP breakdown

By Kathleen Brooks, Research Director UK EMEA, FOREX.com

The September labour market data was released on Friday. The headline payrolls number was roughly in line with expectations at 114k vs. expectations of 115k. The unemployment rate declined 0.3% last month to 7.8%. The unemployment rate was the big surprise, as the markets had been looking for a rise to 8.2%.

This report is the most significant report before the US Presidential election on November 6th, so today's data was always going to be loaded with political importance. The decline in the unemployment rate is being considered positive for the Obama campaign and is attracting scepticism from Republicans. This makes future months' data even more important than usual to see if the September data is the start of a trend or just a blip.

However, regardless of political rhetoric, traders need to know what the detail of the report means and what the market impact may be. Here are the key facts from the September report:

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