The employment situation for Friday, April 6, 2018: Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 103,000 in March, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in manufacturing, healthcare and mining.

Market events to watch this week.

President Trump agreeing to meet the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un pleasantly surprised the markets on Thursday. Just a couple of months ago, the two leaders were in in a rather childish spat over whose nuclear button was bigger and hurled insults at each other, at every opportunity. Now, they are about to make history, not only with a possible reconciliation but also because this would be the first-ever meeting between a U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Investors are hopeful that there will finally be a diplomatic breakthrough.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 313,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on March 9. Employment rose in construction, retail trade, professional and business services, manufacturing, financial activities, and mining.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 200,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment continued to trend up in construction, food services and drinking places, health care, and manufacturing.

In December, the unemployment rate was 4.1% for the third consecutive month. The number of unemployed persons, at 6.6 million, was essentially unchanged over the month. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were down by 0.6 percentage point and 926,000, respectively.

U.S. employment costs expected to see moderate growth; EUR edges lower on mixed inflation and growth data; BoJ revises inflation forecasts lower and retains accommodative stance.

Key data from Australia and China will be released in the early hours of Thursday, followed by inflation figures from the U.S. later on in Thursday’s session. Thursday’s data releases could have a big impact on the Aussie dollar, especially the AUD/USD pair.

Any hopes that the dollar could continue its rebound with an encouraging U.S. jobs report, appears to have been thrown out the window, following a "hat-trick" of losses in the recently released jobs report for August.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 156,000 in August, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.4%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in manufacturing, construction, professional and technical services, health care, and mining. Household Survey Data In August, the unemployment rate, at 4.4%, and the number of unemployed persons, at 7.1 million, were little changed. After declining earlier in the year, the unemployment rate has been either 4.3% or 4.4% since April.