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By James Van Straten|Edited by Stephen Alpher
Updated Feb 7, 2025, 1:44 p.m. UTCPublished Feb 7, 2025, 1:39 p.m. UTC
What to know:
- U.S. January job growth came in weaker than expected at 143,000.
- The news sent bitcoin initially higher.
Job growth in the U.S. fell short of expectations in January, however, unemployment came in lower than expected.
The U.S. economy added 143,000 jobs in January, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, below forecasts of 170,000 and down from 256,000 in December.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
The unemployment rate dropped to 4%, compared with an expected 4.1% and December’s 4.1%.
Under pressure for the past several days, the price of bitcoin (BTC) initially rose to $97,500, while the DXY index rose to 107.8.
The Fed cut its benchmark fed funds rate 100 basis points over the last four months of 2024, and investors weeks ago were expecting more of the same in 2025.
A string of strong economic and inflation data since, however, has had the Fed quickly backtracking on its dovishness and traders pricing out the odds of any further policy ease. Prior to this morning’s jobs numbers, CME FedWatch was showing just a 15% chance of a March rate cut.
James Van Straten is a Senior Analyst at CoinDesk, specializing in Bitcoin and its interplay with the macroeconomic environment. Previously, James worked as a Research Analyst at Saidler & Co., a Swiss hedge fund, where he developed expertise in on-chain analytics. His work focuses on monitoring flows to analyze Bitcoin’s role within the broader financial system.
In addition to his professional endeavors, James serves as an advisor to Coinsilium, a UK publicly traded company, where he provides guidance on their Bitcoin treasury strategy. He also holds investments in Bitcoin, MicroStrategy (MSTR), and Semler Scientific (SMLR).
