Foreign Exchange Market Update

May 8, 2026

United States Employment Jumps by 115,000 Jobs in April

A report released by the Labor Department on Friday showed U.S. job growth in April. Non-farm payroll employment shot up by 115,000 jobs in April after surging by 185,000 jobs in March. The report showed notable job growth in the healthcare, transportation and warehousing, and retail sectors, while federal government employment continued to edge lower.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate came in at 4.3% in April, unchanged from March. The unemployment rate was held steady as the household survey measure of employment slumped by 226,000 people, but the labor force also shrank by 92,000 people. Average hourly employee earnings rose by $0.06 or 0.2% to $37.41. The annual rate of growth by average hourly employee earnings crept up to 3.6% in April from 3.5% in March. 05/08/2026 - 09:51:00 (RTTNews)

Eurozone

Euro traded at 1.1770 against USD at 9:00 AM PST

Spain's industrial output rebounded in March despite the fall in energy production. Industrial production grew 1.8% year-on-year, in contrast to the 0.9% decline in February.  On an unadjusted basis, industrial production registered an annual growth of 2.1%, following a 1.3% drop seen a month ago. Production of consumer and capital goods rose 3.2% and 3.0%. Intermediate goods output gained 1.8%. Meanwhile, energy fell 1.9%.  Month-on-month, industrial production grew 2.3% in March, following a 0.1% fall in February. 05/08/2026 - 08:07:00 (RTTNews) Germany's exports grew in March, but the overall increase remained weak, and imports registered their fastest growth in nearly three years. Exports grew 0.5%, following February's 3.6% increase. At the same time, import growth accelerated to 5.1% from 4.9% in the prior month. The increase in imports was the fastest since May 2023. As a result, the trade balance showed a surplus of EUR 14.3 billion in March, which was well below the EUR 19.6 billion surplus seen in February.

On a yearly basis, exports logged a strong growth of 6.9% after rising 1.6% in the previous month. Likewise, imports advanced 11.1%, following February's 0.7% rise. Exports to euro area countries climbed to 4.1%, and imports climbed 1.7%. At the same time, exports to the U.S. dropped 7.9%, and imports from the US decreased 3.7%. Shipments to China fell 1.8%, while imports from China grew 4.9% in March. 05/08/2026 - 06:59:00 (RTTNews)