Bitcoin Falls 3% After Jobs Report Beats Estimates: What's Going On?

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) on Friday dropped below $80,000 after the August jobs report blew past estimates and put a September rate hike back on the table.

What the Jobs Report Showed

According to Reuters, nonfarm payrolls surged by 162,000 in August, more than triple the 56,000 economists had forecast and well above the highest estimate of 121,000. 

The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%. July’s previously reported drop of 23,000 jobs was also revised upward to a gain of 21,000, making the labor market picture look considerably stronger than markets had priced in.

Fed futures markets had priced in roughly a 52% chance of a September rate hike before the report, down from 63.2% on Wednesday after Fed Governor Christopher Waller signaled support for holding rates steady if inflation continued cooling. 

The strong jobs print reversed that move, pushing rate hike odds back up.

Schiff Warns the Payroll Beat Could Face a Downward Revision

Peter Schiff posted on X that while markets are reacting to the beat, the odds are high that the 162,000 figure eventually gets revised down to a miss based on recent trends in payroll revisions. 

He argued the initial print is unreliable and that investors betting on a rate hold based on this number may be positioning on faulty data.