Bitcoin (BTC) slipped under $70,000 around Friday’s Wall Street open as weak US employment data failed to boost risk assets.
Key points:
Bitcoin and stocks slump in reaction to a surprise downturn in US nonfarm payrolls.
Fed interest-rate odds stay hawkish, with markets seeing just one cut this year.
BTC price action “round trips” its latest breakout attempt, continuing a 2026 trend.
Bitcoin ignores “clearly weakening” labor market
Data from TradingView showed daily BTC price downside passing 3% to hit $68,176 on Bitstamp.
BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
US nonfarm payrolls data disappointed across the board, showing that the labor market was more under pressure than expected.
The economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, per data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in contrast to the predicted 58,000 increase. The unemployment rate also came in higher at 4.4%.
The print contrasted with that from January, which delivered surprisingly strong employment results.
“This marks just the 2nd monthly job loss since the 2020 pandemic,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote in a response on X.
“The US labor market is clearly weakening.” US civilian unemployment rate. Source: BLS
Labor-market strain traditionally signals a tailwind for crypto and risk assets as it implies a greater chance of interest-rate cuts.
The latest data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool nonetheless showed little chance of the Federal Reserve doing so at its next meeting on March 18. Markets also saw just one rate cut in store for 2026.
Fed target rate probabilities (screenshot). Source: CME Group
The employment result thus failed to boost risk assets, with crypto following US stocks lower. At the time of writing, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index were down 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively.
Only gold gained, with the precious metal up 1.5% to $5,155 per ounce.
XAU/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
BTC price comes full circle from monthly highs
Among Bitcoin traders, frustration was apparent as BTC/USD failed to cement a breakout from its narrow local trading range.
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