Nonfarm Payrolls

Net new jobs added across all non-agricultural sectors each month, released the first Friday of the month by the BLS. Above +150K is generally healthy; above +250K signals strong demand; negative prints signal contraction. The single most market-moving US economic release — misses and beats move bonds, equities, and the dollar sharply on release day.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed via ALFRED (Archival FRED). ALFRED archives each data point exactly as it was first published on release day — before any revision by the reporting agency. The figures shown here are what investors, traders, and policymakers were actually looking at when the data came out. Economic releases like payrolls, GDP, and inflation are often revised significantly in subsequent months; ALFRED lets you see the real-time picture.