Bitcoin dips below $80,000 as a hot August jobs report shifts Fed policy expectations

Bitcoin's push above $80,000 lost an important policy cushion on Sept. 4, when the August jobs report came in far stronger than the recent hiring trend. The result made it harder for the Fed to justify holding rates steady on labor-market weakness alone.

Bitcoin registered an intraday low of $78,660, but recovered to stay close to $80,000.

Within the same post-release window, MarketWatch reported the two-year Treasury yield near 4.40%, up from just above 4.33%, and the 10-year near 4.80%, up from just under 4.75%. The Wall Street Journal reported that the dollar index touched 99.932 from about 99.035 before the data.

Those aligned timestamps show that a more resilient labor market gave policymakers more room to focus on inflation, while higher short-term yields and a firmer dollar tightened the financial backdrop for a dollar-priced risk asset.

Payrolls narrowed the Fed question

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said nonfarm payrolls rose by 162,000 in August, more than five times the average monthly gain of 31,000 over the previous 12 months. The separately measured unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1%.

BLS raised June payroll growth to 31,000 and July growth to 21,000, adding a combined 55,000 jobs to its earlier estimates.