I posted the major data on twitter as it was released, be sure to follow @ForexLive for timely major data

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Employment Change July: -0.3K

  • expected +13.2K, prior +14.9K (revised from 15.9K)

Unemployment Rate July: 6.4%

  • expected 6.0%, prior 6.0%
  • Highest unemployment rate since 08/2002
  • unemployed persons increased by 43,700 to 789,000 in July 2014 (seasonally adjusted)

Full Time Employment Change July, +14.5K

  • prior was -3.9K, (revised from -3.8K)

Part Time Employment Change July, -14.8K

  • prior was +18.8K (revised from +19.7K)

Participation Rate July, 64.8%

  • expected is 64.7%, prior was 64.7%
  • 43,400 people added to the labour force

Aggregate monthly hours worked decreased 14.8 million hours (0.9%) to 1 ,610.7 million hours

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AUD/USD marked down immediately on worse than expected headline data

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From the Australian Bureau of Statistics (bolding is mine):

  • In original terms (where the seasonal and irregular influences have not been removed) the number of employed persons decreased by 11,900 persons between June and July 2014 and the number of unemployed persons increased by 19,300. The seasonally adjusted increase in unemployment was stronger than the increase in original terms, reflecting that historically there is usually a decrease in unemployed persons in July in original terms. The incoming rotation group for July 2014 had a lower proportion of employed persons and a higher proportion of unemployed persons compared to the sample it replaced. Therefore the incoming rotation group contributed more persons to the labour force and to the increased unemployment rate. The incoming rotation group contributed about one-third of the absolute change in the number of persons unemployed and 40% of the absolute change in male unemployment

Seasonally adjusted part-time employment decreased by 14,800 persons to 3,499,200 persons while full-time employment increased by 14,500 persons in July 2014 to 8,077,400 persons. The decrease in total employment resulted from:

  • a decrease in male part-time employment, down 21,500 persons
  • a decrease in female full-time employment, down 5,100 persons
  • an increase in female part-time employment, up 6,700 persons
  • an increase in male full-time employment, up 19,600 persons.