When it comes to determining the value of a certain country's currency, one of the factors that must be considered is the status of the labor market. It is a simple fact that new jobs beget economic growth, since more wages are being paid and more money is being spent.

From a forex trader's point of view, labor market strength is always positive for the value of a currency. There are a handful of major economic indicators that give employment data and are released monthly, and in the United States the labor market indicator that gets the most attention is the non-farm payroll report.

This report is typically released on the first Friday of every month by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and forex traders and investors all over the world watch their computer monitors like hawks right before the release of this indicator so that they know whether it is good or bad for the dollar. These "Non Farm Fridays" as some traders like to call them tend to be one of the most volatile trading days out of the entire month.

Some government agencies will refer to the non-farm payroll report as the establishment survey, and this report will indicate the conditions of the labor market in the United States for the prior month.

There are a few main figures that are released simultaneously with the NFP, but the most important number and the one that most traders respond to is the change from the previous month's data. This is really the main number, and it is usually in the range of anywhere from 70,000 to 150,000. This number reveals how many new jobs were added in the United States during the previous month, and many economists say that around 100,000 to 130,000 new jobs each month are necessary to keep the unemployment rate steady (in terms of population growth, etc).

Though the main number that most traders focus on is the change in the number of jobs, a few other important figures are released such as the unemployment rate and average hourly and weekly earnings for employees. This report takes into account over 80% of all workers in the United States, and it excludes self-employed workers, government workers, and farmers (hence the title of the report).