Bitcoin climbs above $65,340 after weak U.S. jobs report

Bitcoin reached its highest price of the month on Friday, August 7, rallying after a surprisingly weak U.S. jobs report altered expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate policy. The cryptocurrency climbed to $65,340, a daily gain of 1.3%, and was on track for a weekly increase exceeding 3%.

The rally followed data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showing nonfarm payrolls declined by 23,000 positions in July. This figure fell far short of the consensus forecast for an addition of 85,000 jobs and marked the first monthly job loss since February. The unemployment rate edged down slightly to 4.1% from 4.2% in June. Adding to the picture of a cooling labor market, employment figures for May and June were revised downward by a combined 103,000 jobs.

Financial markets reacted swiftly to the report, significantly dialing back expectations for a Fed rate increase. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the probability of a 0.25% rate hike at the Fed's September meeting dropped from 55% to approximately 42% following the data release. Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan, stated the report should marginally lower the chances of a hike at the next meeting, noting that...