The July NFP report released last Friday was received as neutral by market participants. The U.S. economy delivered 187k new jobs, close to the 205k expected. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, indicating that the labor market remains resilient.
However, there are some bearish indicators in the report. Most jobs were created in only three sectors (government, health, and education) and Average Hourly Earnings (AHE) increased month-on-month. Additionally, this was the sixth consecutive month of downward revisions in the jobs number.
Overall, the NFP report was more bearish than bullish for the US dollar. The markets have not reacted yet, but may do so in the upcoming week.
Ethereum has been in a consolidation area for the past year but the technical picture looks bullish. The path of least resistance is to break above $2,000, but the market must keep the series of higher lows intact to remain bullish. A break below $1,300 would invalidate the bullish setup.
To conclude, the July NFP report was bearish for the US dollar, but Ethereum still looks set to break higher above the $2,000 resistance level.
