US Jobs Data Clarifies Fed Rate Cut Stand, Crypto Prices Fumble Further

• US jobs data has highlighted the growth of 130k for nonfarm payroll.
• Crypto prices are down collectively by 0.28% in terms of market cap.
• Fed rate cut is less likely in March 2026.

US jobs data for January 2026 is out, and the picture is better than what was anticipated. Most importantly, it sheds some more light on the possibility of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve in its upcoming March meeting. For crypto prices, the situation has worsened over the last 24 hours, even though a few upticks are observed amid fluctuations.

US Job Data

Investors and other market players have finally caught a break with the US Job data for January 2026. As reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nonfarm payroll rose by 130k in the last month, against an earlier forecast of 55,000 by Dow Jones consensus. Leading the charge was the health care sector, with social assistance and construction sectors following the lead.

Unemployment dropped slightly from 4.4% to 4.3%, now translating to 7.4 million unemployed people as of January 2026. The rate was earlier estimated to stay the same in the light of flat retail sales data in December 2025.

US stocks and bonds were among the first to react positively. US Treasury yields, for one, jumped by 4.5 bps to 4.19% as an initial response. CNBC has reported consecutive growth since November 2025 for job creation. The same report has stated that US President Donald Trump called this report a sign of the strong economy.

Reaction of Crypto Prices

Crypto prices continue to move past their respective bullish mark. Their collective market cap has declined by 0.28% to $2.3 trillion, earlier above $3 trillion. BTC is still making moves between $67k and $71k, currently listed at $67,088.84, which is slightly up by 0.27% over the last 24 hours.

A similar reaction is visible on other top cryptocurrencies, including, but not limited to, ETH (+1.25%), XRP (+1.29%), and SOL (-0.28%). Concerns about BTC extending losses below $65k remain on the table. Notably, Bitcoin tokens have been squeezed between $65k and $70k for some time now.

And Now The Fed Rate Cut

The US Federal Reserve didn’t slash rates in January, and is less likely to cut rates in March 2026 as well. A 10-2 voting verdict kept the rate between 3.50% and 3.75%, something that could go on till June.

Oren Klachkin, Financial Market Economist at Nationwide, has stated, as reported by Reuters, that an extended pause still seems likely. No rate cut in March is now likely to have some influence over investors’ appetite for fund allocation to risky ventures, cryptocurrencies in this case.

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