A weak jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed the gloomy employment outlook previously reported by human resources firm ADP.
More Weak Jobs Data Triggers Second BTC Sell-off, Price Revisits $110K
Just a day after New Jersey-based human resources giant ADP sent bitcoin ( BTC) below $110K with lower-than-expected private sector employment numbers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday, delivered more bad news with its own gloomy jobs report, yanking the cryptocurrency back down to $110K after it had topped $113K earlier in the day.
The U.S. economy only added 22,000 jobs in August, according to Friday’s BLS report, a far cry from the 75,000 economists had predicted. To add insult to injury, the unemployment rate crept up to 4.3% and June’s numbers were revised, revealing a loss of 13,000 jobs instead of the 14,000 gain previously reported. July’s figures were also rejigged and showed a gain of 79,000 positions, 6,000 higher than the previously reported 73,000 increase.
Friday’s jobs report is the first one to be published since U.S. President Donald Trump fired former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer last month. The president alleges McEntarfer strategically revised employment numbers to make the Trump administration “look bad.” And now, with McEntarfer booted out, today’s weak numbers will appear more objective to some, perhaps magnifying the losses seen in both crypto and stock markets shortly after the report came out.
“This jobs number was certainly a little bit of a disappointment,” said White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett during a CNBC interview. “But…there was a Goldman Sachs study that came out yesterday, that showed that because the BLS hasn’t really done a good job on its seasonal adjustment in August, that they tend to revise this number up by almost 70,000 jobs.”
Overview of Market Metrics
Bitcoin was priced at $111,322.32 at the time of reporting, up 1.16% over 24 hours and 2.39% for the week, according to Coinmarketcap. BTC has been trading between $109,755.97 and $113,357.49 since yesterday.
Twenty-four-hour trading volume rose 5.14% over 24 hours, reaching $60.09 billion. Market capitalization also climbed 1.21% since Thursday and stood at $2.21 trillion at the time of writing. Bitcoin dominance however, was down 0.19% at 58.66%.
Total bitcoin futures open interest increased 1.22% to $80.79 billion over 24 hours, according to Coinglass. Bitcoin liquidations have jumped to $120.05 million since yesterday. Long liquidations accounted for $72.74 million of that total figure, and the remaining $47.31 million was all shorts.