What a shocker: Economists were expecting payrolls data to show that 75,000 U.S. jobs were added in August. The actual number: Zero, marking the weakest reading since September 2010.
Dow stock futures had been down 0.7 per cent when the number was released and S&P stock futures down 0.8 per cent. Within 10 minutes, they were down 1.2 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively.
The unemployment rate remained steady at 9.1 per cent. The Labour Department also revised its initial estimate for July jobs gains down to 85,000 from 117,000.
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U.S. Treasuries, German bunds, gold and the Swiss franc surged in response. Spot gold rose to a session high of $1,873.10 (U.S.) an ounce. Prices on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes last traded up 24/32, with a yield of 2.05 per cent.
U.S. crude oil was down 2.7 percent at $86.53 a barrel.