What is non-agricultural data? Why can it trigger wild fluctuations in gold?

Before explaining the impact of US non-farm data on gold, let's summarize the following US non-farm data report with a few points.

• Full name: US non-farm payroll data
• Non-farm payroll data is released on the first Friday of each month.
• The non-farm payrolls count is based on the change in employment last month, excluding employment in the agricultural sector.
• The unemployment rate published together refers to the percentage of the total workforce that was unemployed and actively looking for work in the previous month.

(One-hour chart of gold prices)

These numbers are important for a number of reasons, including the fact that the economy needs good jobs to grow strongly. These jobs are considered a leading indicator because if people are working, they have the purchasing power that drives the economy.

No matter how these numbers come out, you can see the impact of their announcements on the overall market, not just hereforeign exchange marketIt also includes foreign exchange gold, indices, bonds, and so on.

No matter whether the non-farm payroll data is above or below the forecast, it can make a lot of things change. eachforeign exchange trading platformTraders need to recognize the fact that an important piece of data is released, and then look for movement to occur in order to trade. 

The impact of US non-farm data on gold

In fact, there is no clear long-term relationship between gold and US non-farm payroll data, but the impact of US non-farm payroll data on gold is significant, mainly due to market sentiment.

If the results of the US non-farm payroll data NFP report are released, the results are seriously not in line with investors' expectations, whether high or low, it will affect the price of gold in the short term. Usually, good news (or, in fact, better than expected) on the US labor market is good for the dollar and bad for gold. Gold prices tend to fall on the day of the US non-farm payrolls report. But if there is bad news in the US labor market, the situation will reverse.

It is important that investors pay more attention to the impact of non-farm payroll data reports on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy and short-term interest rates.

In 2015, it became clear that virtually every release of non-farm payroll data was considered the key to the Federal Reserve's decision on whether the economy was ready to raise interest rates. Later, non-farm payroll data became less important to the gold market.

But regardless, the strong (weak) jobs report most of the time confirms that the U.S. economy is in good (bad) shape, which is bearish (positive) for gold prices.

U.S. non-farm payroll data release time

The nonfarm payrolls report is released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the first Friday of each month at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (13:30 p.m. London time). The only exception is that when the first Friday coincides with a major U.S. holiday, such as New Year's Day, the report will be delayed until the following Friday.

US non-agricultural data release time: Beijing time (summer time: April - October) 20:30 release, (winter time: November - March) 21:30.