📰 Fundamentals & Macro·beginner

NFP (Non-Farm Payrolls)

Also called: non-farm payrolls, jobs report

The US monthly jobs report — one of the most market-moving economic releases in forex, always the first Friday of the month at 8:30am ET.

Non-Farm Payrolls tells you how many jobs the US economy added (excluding farming, hence "non-farm"). It comes out the first Friday of every month at 8:30am ET. A big beat (more jobs than expected) usually strengthens the US dollar. A big miss weakens it. NFP is violent. Spreads on EUR/USD blow out from 0.8 pips to 15+ pips for the first minute. Price can spike 50 pips in both directions within 30 seconds before settling. It's one of the only events that can invalidate a perfect technical setup in 10 seconds. Most serious traders go FLAT (no open positions) 15 minutes before NFP and wait 30 minutes after before taking new positions. Trying to "trade the news" is a fast way to learn expensive lessons.

Real trade example

May 2024 NFP printed +272k vs expected +180k. EUR/USD dropped 120 pips in 4 minutes. Traders flat going in were fine. Traders long without stops lost a week of profits in four minutes.

Related terms

FOMC

beginner

The US Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee — the most important meeting in global forex, held 8 times a year.

CPI (Consumer Price Index)

beginner

The main inflation number — how fast prices are rising for everyday goods. Major driver of central bank decisions and forex moves.

SNB (Swiss National Bank)

advanced

The central bank for Switzerland — known for unpredictable interventions to weaken the safe-haven Swiss franc.

RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia)

intermediate

The central bank for Australia — sets the cash rate that drives AUD currency pairs.

RBNZ (Reserve Bank of New Zealand)

intermediate

The central bank for New Zealand — sets the official cash rate that drives NZD currency pairs.

Quantitative Easing (QE)

advanced

A central bank policy of buying massive amounts of bonds to inject money into the economy and lower long-term interest rates.

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