Despite the versatile statistics on the American economy, traders continued to open long positions in the US dollar against the euro on Thursday, as the problems at the beginning of the year in the eurozone are much more serious.
Salaries in the United States continued to show growth, albeit at a slower pace compared with the previous quarter. According to a report by the US Department of Labor, the labor costs index in the 4th quarter of 2018 increased by 0.7% compared to the 3rd quarter. Economists had expected a larger increase in the 4th quarter, after a 0.8% increase in the 3rd. Compared to the same period of the previous year, the labor costs index showed an increase of 2.9%.
The labor market data slightly disappointed traders, however, the entire emphasis today is shifted to a report on the number of people employed in the non-agricultural sector.
According to the US Department of Labor weekly report, the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 53,000 to 253,000 in the week from January 20 to January 26. Economists had expected the number of applications to rise to 215,000.
As noted above, the current movement of the US dollar will directly depend on the report on the number of people employed in the US non-farm sector. If the index turns out to be better than economists' forecasts and the growth exceeds 165,000, we can expect a strengthening of the US dollar and a decline in the EUR / USD pair to the support area of 1.1390 and 1.1340. If the data turns out to be worse than the forecasts or coincide with them, it is likely that the pair will remain traded in the side channel.
Data on sales in the primary housing market of the United States supported the US dollar, as they were much better than economists' forecasts. According to a report by the US Department of Commerce, sales in the primary housing market rose immediately by 16.9% compared with the previous month, to 657,000 homes per year. Economists had expected sales of 571,000 homes per year. Compared to the same period of the previous year, sales decreased by 7.7%, which is directly related to the high rates on mortgage loans.
The upside potential of the US dollar in the afternoon limited the report from MNI Indicators, in which it was stated that Chicago PMI Purchasing Managers Index in January 2019 was 56.7 points versus 63.8 points in December. Economists had expected the index to be 61.4 points.
The Canadian economy contracted slightly in November due to a drop in wholesale trade and manufacturing in manufacturing. The USD / CAD pair traded in the sideways channel yesterday after the release of Canadian GDP data.
According to the report, the economy declined in November 2018 by 0.1% compared with the previous month and amounted to 1.944 trillion Canadian dollars. Compared to the same period last year, Canadian GDP grew by 1.7%.
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