Non-Farm Payrolls
The U.S. Department of Labor publishes each month, normally on a Friday, a figure for U.S. non-farm payrolls, or the number of people in work outside the agricultural sector. It is one of the most important U.S. economic indicators; it provides crucial information about the health of the U.S. economy. Rises and falls in the data can have a major impact on value of the dollar against other major currencies, on bond prices and market interest rates, particularly if it surprises financial markets by being outside consensus estimates.