The US Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the Employment Situation report — which includes Non-Farm Payrolls — on the first Friday of each month at 8:30 AM Eastern Time. Because US clocks change, the UTC time shifts by an hour twice a year:
| Period | US local | UTC |
|---|---|---|
| US Standard Time (Nov–Mar) | 8:30 AM EST | 13:30 UTC |
| US Daylight Time (Mar–Nov) | 8:30 AM EDT | 12:30 UTC |
NFP measures how many jobs the US economy added, excluding farm work. Strong jobs data usually strengthens the US dollar (and pressures gold), while weak data does the opposite. Because so many traders act on it at once, XAUUSD, EURUSD and GBPUSD can move dozens of pips in seconds.
Spreads widen and price often spikes in both directions — a liquidity sweep — before choosing a direction. A common approach is to wait for the first 5–15 minutes to settle, then trade the resulting break of structure. Always size positions with the position size calculator because volatility is high. Track other releases on the economic indicators page.