US Jobs Smash Forecasts, Sending Gold and Bitcoin Lower

The US economy added 165,000 jobs in October, nearly three times the 59,000 expected, while unemployment fell to 4.1% below the 4.2% forecast, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Gold dropped to about $4,032 an ounce from roughly $4,062 before the 8:30 a.m. ET release, and Bitcoin briefly rose above $76,100 before trading near $75,780, about 0.2% below its pre-report level. The dollar index spiked to about 102.22 and settled near 102.14. The data landed before the Federal Reserve’s Dec. 8-9 meeting, where traders’ odds of a quarter-point hike rose to 76.8% from 67%; the Fed had held its range at 3.75%-4.00% on Oct. 28 after raising rates in September for the first time in three years.