Crypto and stock prices took a tumble on Friday as the latest labor report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed a rising unemployment rate in the country. The report showed that the U.S. unemployment rate reached 4.3% in July, the highest it has been since October 2021. While there were some employment gains in certain sectors, such as healthcare, construction, and warehousing, the information sector experienced a loss of 20,000 jobs. Overall, the total nonfarm payroll employment in the U.S. only increased by 114,000 jobs, a significant drop from the average monthly job gains of 215,000 over the past year.
In response to the labor report, Bitcoin (BTC) dipped below the $62,000 mark for the first time in nearly three weeks, trading at $61,458 at the time of writing. It has experienced a 5.5% drop in the past 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) also fell below $3,000 for the first time since July 8th, currently trading at $2,980 and seeing a 6.5% decrease in the past day. The overall crypto market cap declined by 5.8% according to CoinGecko.
The stock market also had a rough day, with the S&P 500 dropping by 1.84%, the Nasdaq falling by 2.38%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping by 1.21%. It was a gloomy day for both crypto and traditional markets as the impact of the rising unemployment rate weighed heavily on investor sentiment.