U.S. August Job Adds of 187K Vs Estimates for 170K; Unemployment Rate Rises to 3.8%

The U.S. added 187,000 jobs in August versus expectations for 170,000 and up from a downwardly revised 157,000 in July (revised from 187,000).

The unemployment rate for August was 3.8% versus forecasts for 3.5% and last month’s 3.5%.

The price of bitcoin (BTC) was little-changed at just above $26,000 in the minutes following Friday morning’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It’s been a rough week for bitcoin, which surged to above $28,000 Tuesday following Grayscale’s court victory over the SEC in that company’s quest to convert its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot bitcoin ETF. As has been typical of rallies for several months now, bitcoin quickly began reversing those gains. The reversal turned into a full plunge on Thursday, with bitcoin falling more than 4% and below $26,000 as the SEC delayed making decisions on a multiple spot bitcoin ETF applications, including those from BlackRock and Fidelity.

With ETF hopes shelved for what could me many more months, bitcoin bulls might be looking to a softening in the economy and thus lower interest rates as a possible catalyst. While this morning’s report provided some interest in the form of a rising unemployment rate, job growth continues to be chugging along.

Checking other report details, average hourly earnings were higher by 0.2% in August against forecasts for 0.3% and down from 0.4% in July. On a year-over-year basis, average hourly earnings were up 4.3% in August versus forecasts for 4.4% and down from 4.4% in July.