Non-farm payrolls

Discover what the non-farm payrolls (NFP) report is, when it’s released and how it affects financial markets.

* Trading is risky. Capital at risk.

What happened at the last non-farm payrolls report?

The US lost 92,000 jobs in February, down from January's 126,000 rise and also well below forecasts of a 59,000 gain.

US unemployment rose back to 4.4%, up from from 4.3% in January.

Forecast

80,000

Actual

23,000

57,000

When is the next Fed meeting?

Next Fed meeting

When is the next non-farm payrolls report?

NFP data is usually released at 8.30am (EST) on the first Friday of every month. Here are the key dates for your diary in 2026.

	Date	Time (EST)
January Release	February 6th	8.30AM
February Release	March 6th	8.30AM
March Release	April 3rd	8.30AM
April Release	May 8th	8.30AM
May Release	June 5th	8.30AM
June Release	July 2nd	8.30AM
July Release	August 7th	8.30AM
August Release	September 4th	8.30AM
September Release	October 2nd	8.30AM
October Release	November 6th	8.30AM
November Release	December 4th	8.30AM

What is non-farm payrolls?

Two male US construction workers in a factory looking at a clipboard

The non-farm payrolls is the official monthly release of US employment figures. As the name suggests, it doesn’t include farm workers, and also excludes private households and non-profit workers.

The NFP report is a significant indicator of the health of the US economy. It provides invaluable insight into how US consumers are doing and what the Federal Reserve might do with interest rates.

How to trade non-farm payrolls

Traders take a keen interest in the non-farm payrolls as it’s historically caused sudden, significant price movements in the market, giving rise to potential trading opportunities.

Economists will attempt to predict what the headline NFP figure will be each month, usually arriving at a consensus estimate. If the actual figure deviates significantly from the estimate, this tends to create more market volatility.

The US dollar, US indices and commodities such as gold are particularly sensitive to the NFP report.