The dollar is turning in a mixed performance against its major rivals Thursday afternoon, following the release of a large number of U.S. economic reports. Despite the deluge of data released this morning, traders are looking ahead to the release of the all important jobs report for August tomorrow morning.
Private sector employment in the U.S. rose by less than expected in the month of August, according to a report released by payroll processor ADP on Thursday. ADP said private sector employment climbed by 163,000 jobs in August after jumping by a revised 217,000 jobs in July.
Economists had expected an increase of about 190,000 jobs compared to the spike of 219,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
A day ahead of the release the more closely watched monthly employment report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended September 1st.
The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 203,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 213,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 214,000.
Reflecting upward revisions to both output and hours worked, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing the pace of growth in labor productivity was unrevised in the second quarter.
The report said labor productivity increased by 2.9 percent in the second quarter, unrevised from the preliminary estimate but still reflecting a significant acceleration from the 0.3 percent uptick in the first quarter. Economists had expected productivity growth to be upwardly revised to 3.0 percent.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the decrease in unit labor costs in the second quarter was revised to 1.0 percent from 0.9 percent. The drop in unit labor costs was expected to be unrevised.
A report released by the Institute for Supply Management on Thursday showed a much bigger than expected acceleration in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in the month of August.
The ISM said its non-manufacturing index jumped to 58.5 in August from 55.7 in July, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the service sector. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 56.8.
New orders for U.S. manufactured goods pulled back by more than expected in the month of July, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. The Commerce Department said factory orders fell by 0.8 percent in July after climbed by a downwardly revised 0.6 percent in June.
Economists had expected factory orders to drop by 0.6 percent compared to the 0.7 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
The dollar as climbed to around $1.1615 against the Euro Thursday afternoon, from an early low of $1.1658.
Germany's factory orders dropped unexpectedly on foreign demand in July amid trade disputes with the United States. Data from Destatis, released Thursday, showed that new orders in manufacturing fell 0.9 percent in July from June, confounding expectations for an increase of 1.8 percent.
Germany's construction activity returned to growth midway through the third quarter after having stalled in July, survey results from IHS Markit showed Thursday. The headline construction Purchasing Managers' Index ticked up to 51.5 in August from 50.0 'no-change' mark in July.
The buck dropped to a low of $1.2961 against the pound sterling Thursday, but has since bounced back to around $1.2930.
The greenback rose to an early high of Y111.456 against the Japanese Yen Thursday, but has since retreated to around Y110.800.
