Bitcoin hits $77,000 wall as the Fed gets trapped between weak jobs and $90 oil

Bitcoin fell below $77,000 as softer US labor data failed to dislodge expectations for another Federal Reserve rate increase.

Data from CryptoSlate shows the largest cryptocurrency traded around $76,985 as of press time after July job openings held at 7.3 million and hiring remained subdued.

The release landed into a market already confronting $90 oil, rising Treasury yields and a Fed that has shifted sharply from discussing rate cuts to considering another hike.

Data from CME FedWatch showed the probability of a September rate increase at 66%, up from about 60% following Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s Aug. 28 Jackson Hole speech.

JOLTS did not make markets more hawkish. Instead, the report failed to overturn an inflation-driven repricing already reinforced by higher energy prices and Treasury yields.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 5.1 million hires and 3.1 million quits in July, with both measures little changed from the previous month. June openings were revised down by 177,000 to 7.2 million, while earlier estimates for hires and quits were also lowered.

The softer turnover arrived less than three weeks before the Fed’s Sept. 15-16 meeting, giving policymakers further evidence that the labor market is cooling without showing the type of contraction that would settle the policy debate.