US: Nonfarm Payrolls increased by 225K in January vs. 160K expected

• Nonfarm Payrolls rose less than expected to weigh on USD.
• Annual wage inflation softened to 2.9% in December.

Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) in the US increased by 225,000 in January following December's reading of 147,000 (revised from 145,000), the data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed on Friday. This reading came in higher than the market expectation of 160,000.

Further details of the report showed that the Unemployment Rate ticked up to 3.6% and the Average Hourly Earnings increased 3.1% % on a yearly basis to beat the market expectation of 3%.

USD reaction

The greenback's reaction to the data was muted and the US Dollar Index, which tracks the USD's value against a basket of six major currencies was up 0.05% on the day at 98.53.