Strong US Jobs Report Triggers Selloff in Gold and Bitcoin

The August US payrolls report caught gold and Bitcoin off guard, causing both assets to drop significantly. The report showed that US employers added 162,000 jobs in August, nearly three times the consensus estimate of around 56,000.

The strong employment data increased the risk of a Federal Reserve rate hike, which put pressure on both gold and Bitcoin. Gold initially fell more than 2%, dropping from around $4,469 an ounce to below $4,376, while Bitcoin retreated from its early-Friday high above $82,000 to below $80,000.

However, the reaction after the initial selloff showed a difference between the two assets. Gold recovered some of its losses and was down around 1.2% near $4,419, while Bitcoin remained closer to its post-payrolls lows.