Friday’s NFP was released with stock markets finely poised inside the range set on FOMC day, while the USD was trading at lows last traded on the 11th April. Expectations were for some fairly average readings, with average hourly earnings and the unemployment rate estimated to be unchanged, and a headline print of +238K. However, the readings were firmly lower and missed every estimate – the headline figure was only +175K, the unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, while average hourly earnings rose 0.2%. None of these figures are terrible – in fact, the labour market still looks healthy - but the misses need to be taken in ... (full story)