USD/SEK settles above 3 1/2-year low, posts weekly loss

The USD/SEK currency pair settled above Friday’s low of 9.3352, its weakest level since March 2022, following a considerably slower than anticipated US job growth, which cemented expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut this month.

Employers in all sectors of the US economy, excluding farming, added only 22,000 job positions in August, well below market consensus and the revised up 79,000 in July.

And, the unemployment rate went up to 4.3% in August, the highest since October 2021, from 4.2% in July.

The latest figures again highlighted signs of a cooling labor market.

Markets are now pricing in about an 88% chance of a 25 basis point Fed rate cut in September and a 12% chance of a 50 basis point cut.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s annual consumer inflation has picked up to 1.1% in August from 0.8% in July, the latest data by Statistics Sweden showed.

Still, the latest reading has remained well below the Riksbank’s 2% target.

And, Sweden’s consumer price index with a fixed interest rate (CPIF), Riksbank’s target variable for inflation, went up 3.3% year-on-year in August – the sharpest increase since January 2024.

The exotic Forex pair lost 0.73% for the week.