Jobs Report Shocks Markets with Unexpected Jobs Loss

The US economy's job market has shown signs of weakness following a surprising jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report revealed that the U.S. economy unexpectedly shed 23,000 jobs last month, which is in sharp contrast to the 83,000 jobs analysts at the Dow Jones expected the market to add.

The figure stands in stark contrast to expectations and marks a significant revision downward for May and June figures. The 12-month average now stands at 34,000.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, but this was largely due to a decline in the labor force participation rate, which touched its lowest level in more than five years at 61.4%. The drop was mainly explained by the local government education sector, which lost 50,000 roles.

The jobs report has led traders to increase their bets that the Federal Reserve won't hike interest rates in September. According to the CME Group's FedWatch gauge of futures prices, odds of a hike fell to 44% from 58.3%.