Payrolls, wages, unemployment and claims — the other half of the mandate.
Central banks are judged on prices and on employment, which makes labour data the second great mover of currencies. This course covers every employment release worth knowing: non-farm payrolls, average hourly earnings, the unemployment rate, ADP, weekly jobless claims, JOLTS, the UK claimant count, and the Australian and Canadian employment prints — what each measures, how reliable it is, and how it reaches the exchange rate.
intermediate · 8 lessons · 1h 20m
What you'll cover
Non-Farm Payrolls: The Full AnatomyThe most violent scheduled release in the currency market, and how to read it properly.Non-farm payrolls produces more volatility per minute than any other scheduled non-policy release. Most traders read one number out of it. The release contains at least five that…
Average Hourly EarningsThe wage line inside payrolls — and often the number that actually moves the dollar.Average hourly earnings sits three lines below the payroll headline and is routinely the reason the dollar goes the opposite way to the job count. Wages are where the labour…
The Unemployment RateA single percentage that hides three different economies, and the recession rule built on it.The unemployment rate is the most quoted economic statistic in the world and one of the most misread. It is a ratio, and a ratio can move because of its numerator, its…
ADP Employment ChangeNot a payrolls forecast — and treating it as one is a costly habit.ADP arrives two days before payrolls and is widely traded as a preview of it. That framing is out of date: ADP itself abandoned the goal of predicting NFP years ago and rebuilt…
US Initial Jobless ClaimsThe fastest labour-market signal there is, and the only weekly one worth watching.Every other labour indicator is monthly or quarterly and weeks stale. Jobless claims arrive every Thursday, cover a week that ended five days ago, and are barely revised. When the…
JOLTS Job OpeningsStale, noisy — and for a while the single most quoted number at the Federal Reserve.JOLTS arrives with a two-month lag from a survey with a poor response rate, and by every normal standard should be ignored. It is not, because the Federal Reserve chose one ratio…
UK Claimant Count ChangeThe sterling labour print that is not the one that matters — and the one that is.Claimant count change sits at the top of the UK labour market release and gets most of the attention on the calendar. It is also the least reliable number in it. Knowing why — and…
Employment Change: Australia and CanadaTwo volatile monthly prints where the composition matters more than the total.Australia and Canada both publish a monthly net employment change, and both produce outsized currency moves relative to the size of their economies. They also share a specific…
Who this course is for
Labour Market Releases is a intermediate course in the Fundamental Analysis track of the FX Terminal Academy. It assumes you already know what a currency pair is and how an order is placed. There are 8 lessons, about 1h 20m of reading in total.
Every lesson is free to read, and no account is needed to read one. Signing in only records which lessons you have finished, keeps your place across devices and issues the completion certificate at the end.
How to work through it
Read the lessons in the order they are listed: each one builds on the vocabulary and the ideas of the one before it. Each lesson ends with a short quiz that checks you took the point rather than the wording, and links straight into the FX Terminal screen that puts it to work — so the idea is tested against live market data instead of staying on the page.
You can stop between lessons and come back; nothing here expires, and the course quiz at the end covers the whole set rather than the last thing you read.
Common questions
Is Labour Market Releases free?
Yes. Every lesson is free to read in full. There is no paywall, no trial and no card required, and the live FX Terminal screens each lesson links to are free as well.
Do I need any trading experience to start?
Some. It takes for granted that you know what a currency pair is, what a pip is and how an order reaches the market — the beginner courses in the Academy cover all three.
How long does the course take?
8 lessons, roughly 1h 20m of reading. It is self-paced — there is no schedule and no expiry, so stopping between lessons costs you nothing.
Do I need an account?
Not to read. An account is free and only exists to remember which lessons you have finished, carry that across devices, and issue the certificate when you complete the course.
Is there a quiz or a certificate?
Each lesson ends with a short quiz, and the course has its own assessment covering the whole set. Completing it while signed in issues a certificate you can share.
Will this course tell me what to trade?
No. The Academy teaches how the market works and how to read the data; it does not issue signals or recommendations. Nothing on FX Terminal is investment advice.