The Jobs Report Came In at Three Times the Estimate. Can Bitcoin Get $80,000 Back?

A blockbuster jobs report landed just hours after a Fed governor gave Bitcoin bulls their best news in months, and now two events before September 16 will determine whether the rally survives or collapses.

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Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) had climbed to $82,240 early on Friday, its highest since May, after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday he would support holding rates steady this month. The Bitcoin price then fell about 2% to below $80,000 when the August jobs report showed the economy added 162,000 jobs against a consensus of 53,000.

That is the strongest monthly hiring since March, and it arrived one day after Waller’s comments had cut the odds of a September rate hike to roughly even. Unemployment held at 4.1%, and July was revised from a loss of 23,000 jobs to a gain of 21,000.

So could the Bitcoin price get $80,000 back before the Fed meets on September 16?

Why a Strong Jobs Number Hurt Bitcoin

The Bitcoin price fell on the report because a strong labor market gives the Fed room to raise rates. Waller’s case for a pause on Thursday rested on inflation cooling and hiring slowing, and a 162,000 print takes away the second half of that argument. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised July from a 23,000 loss to a 21,000 gain, so the summer was never as weak as the earlier data suggested.