Jobs report

The jobs report is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly release covering the US labor market, published on the first Friday of most months. Its headline figure is nonfarm payrolls, the net number of jobs added or lost across the economy over the prior month, excluding farm work and a few other categories.

Alongside payrolls, the report includes the unemployment rate and average wage growth, giving a fuller picture of whether the labor market is tightening or loosening. Because a strong labor market can keep inflation elevated by pushing wages higher, the jobs report feeds directly into how investors expect the Federal Reserve to act on the federal funds rate.

This creates a dynamic that can confuse newer investors: a surprisingly strong jobs report sometimes causes stocks to fall rather than rise, because it makes the Fed less likely to cut rates, or more likely to keep them higher for longer. A weak jobs report can have the opposite effect, lifting stocks on hopes of easier Fed policy even though it reflects a softer economy.