The U.S. job market remained strong in June, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that 206,000 jobs were added, down from May’s 218,000 (revised from the 272,000 initially reported) but still slightly above economists’ estimates of 190,000.
The unemployment rate in June rose to 4.1% from 4% in May and forecasts of 4%.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% compared to forecasts of 0.3% and May’s 0.4%. On a year-over-year basis, that was 3.9% higher than expectations of 3.9% and the previous month’s 4.1%.
Bitcoin price is down 3% on the day and trading at $55,872 at press time after losing around 10% over the past 48 hours amid market pressure from Mt.Gox’s $9 billion refund and the German government’s BTC sale.
Source: TradingView
Ahead of this morning’s data, traders were betting almost zero on a rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its July 31 meeting, but there was a more than 70% chance of a cut at its mid-September meeting. Speaking this week, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell struck a dovish tone, saying a weaker jobs market could outweigh inflation concerns as the central bank decides on the path forward for monetary policy.
While the 206,000 jobs added beat expectations, other data showed some weakness. May’s job gain was revised down to 218,000 from 272,000. In addition, April’s initially reported gain of 165,000 was revised down to 108,000. The three-month average showed job gains of 177,000, down from 249,000 in the previous quarter.
Additionally, while the unemployment rate rose only modestly, its 4.1% level was still the highest since November 2021.
The digital asset industry is embarking on a period of strong growth and is in a much better position than it was two years ago, investment bank Architect Partners said in its quarterly report released last week.
The company said the value of the cryptocurrency industry increased by more than $750 billion in the first half of this year. This growth was driven by the increase in the value of crypto tokens equivalent to more than $700 billion, the successful launch of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds in the United States, which attracted more than $15 billion, and the valuation of publicly listed crypto companies, which increased by another $11 billion.
The report said that cryptocurrencies and the internet, both disruptive technologies, have very similar characteristics, noting that the cryptocurrency market is recovering from the crypto winter much faster than the internet recovered after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000.
“Ironically, cryptocurrencies were the stepchild of the internet” but are now outperforming their predecessors and “exceeding the value of the internet at the same point in their lifecycle,” Architect said.
Trading activity is also on the rise, with the value of transactions announced in Q2 hitting a record high of $2.7 billion, exceeding the combined value of the previous eight quarters. Architect said confidence and momentum in the market have returned, with the crypto winter over, and “professionalism, risk management, ethical behavior and ‘doing the right thing’ finally becoming the founding principles of crypto.”
Itadori
Bitcoin Magazine
