US nonfarm payrolls fall well below expectations in April

US nonfarm payrolls shocked in April by falling far below expectations, increasing by only 266,000 last month, compared to downward-revised 770K rise in March, while economists expected payrolls to advance by 978,000.

Much lower than expected number of workers hired in April comes from labor shortage amid booming demand on reopening of the economy, massive financial help and improved public health.

However, disappointing figure are unlikely to have stronger negative impact on expectations that the economy entered the second quarter with strong momentum and remaining on track for the best performance this year in almost four decades.

The dollar, US Treasuries and the futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell in immediate reaction on disappointing data, while the riskier currencies such as Euro and British pound jumped to one-week high, and gold rose to the highest in three months.

Markets need to digest today’s data to provide clearer direction signals.