{"id":646409,"date":"2024-12-06T15:30:21","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T14:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ftmo.com\/?p=646409"},"modified":"2024-12-06T15:59:43","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T14:59:43","slug":"economic-calendar-the-labour-market-tells-a-lot-about-the-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ftmo.com\/en\/economic-calendar-the-labour-market-tells-a-lot-about-the-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic calendar – the labour market tells a lot about the economy"},"content":{"rendered":"
Labour market news regarding new jobs or unemployment is one of the most important factors influencing events in the financial markets. According to some economists, the labour market provides a much better picture of the state of the economy than, for example, the much more popular GDP.<\/em><\/p>\n Labour market reports are among the most closely watched data that appear regularly on the economic calendar. It is one of the indicators of the state of the economy on which central banks base their monetary policy decisions.<\/p>\n GDP<\/a> has long been considered an indicator of the health and performance of the economy. In recent years, inflation has been considered one of the main factors influencing central banks’ interest rate decisions. However, in the second half of 2024, it is clearly evident that central bankers<\/a>, and especially those in the US, give the most weight to labour market reports when making monetary policy decisions.<\/p>\n At a time when inflation is approaching the central bankers’ target of around 2% per annum, the situation on the labour market and the level of unemployment is precisely the factor that can have a direct impact on decisions on the next possible move in interest rates. The head of the US Fed himself mentioned in early October 2024 that the labour market provides a better picture of the state of the economy than GDP (hence the mention of GDP at the beginning of the article), and Minneapolis Fed chief Neel Kashkari, for his part, sees increased unemployment as a greater risk to the economy than increased inflation<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the past, it was generally thought that good labour market numbers indicated a booming economy, leading to possible wage growth (and thus possible inflation) and speculation about possible interest rate hikes by central banks. This in turn attracts investors and traders who find the currency of a given country more attractive and its value may rise. Nowadays, however, falling unemployment may no longer lead to rising wages, as employers can save on wages thanks to modern technology, etc. Estimating inflation through the labour market situation is thus more complex and puts the labour market at the forefront of central bankers’ monetary policy decisions.<\/p>\n There is quite a lot of labour market data in the economic calendar, with different countries publishing differently detailed reports on the total number or change in the number of employed and unemployed people, the size of incomes, participation rates, etc. Of course, we get the most extensive dose of data from the USA, but traders are also interested in the labour market situation in Europe, the UK, Japan, etc.<\/p>\n The vast majority of this is official data and only rarely do we look at data and surveys from private companies. In most countries, labour market data is published on a monthly basis but, for example, EU data is published on a quarterly basis and in the UK, although data is published once a month, it is an average of the last three months.<\/p>\n Probably the most closely watched data on the economic calendar by traders is change in nonfarm employment, commonly referred to as Nonfarm Payrolls<\/a>, which we wrote about in detail in the first part of our series on economic calendar events.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
Labour market more important than inflation<\/h2>\n
What to watch out for<\/h2>\n
NFP, unemployment and more<\/h2>\n