Story
Bitcoin Rises Above $61,000 as Weak U.S. Jobs Data Cools Fed Rate Hike Bets
Summary
Bitcoin's price rallied, briefly topping $62,000, after a U.S. jobs report came in significantly below expectations, leading investors to scale back bets on further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
Bitcoin's price climbed on Thursday, briefly surpassing the $62,000 mark, after a U.S. government report showed significantly slower job growth than anticipated, tempering expectations for further Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. The world's largest cryptocurrency was last trading up 2.2% at $61,416.6 by 16:55 ET, according to data from Investing.com.
Payrolls Data Fuels Market Rally
The catalyst for the move was the latest nonfarm payrolls report, which revealed that U.S. employers added just 57,000 jobs in June. This figure was a considerable miss from the 115,000 jobs that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had forecast and marked a slowdown from the revised 129,000 jobs added in May.
Weaker labor market data can reduce the urgency for central banks to tighten monetary policy. For investors, this signals that the Federal Reserve may have more room to hold interest rates steady, a condition generally seen as supportive for risk assets like cryptocurrencies.
Shifting Fed Expectations
Following the data release, traders recalibrated their expectations for the Fed's next move. Futures markets tracked by the CME Group’s FedWatch tool showed that traders priced out the probability of an interest rate increase in September, according to the source report.
AdThe broader cryptocurrency market rose alongside Bitcoin. Other major digital assets posted gains, including:
- Ethereum (ETH): Climbed 5.1% to $1,699.19
- XRP: Gained 2.3% to $1.0820
- Solana (SOL): Improved by 4.7%
- Cardano (ADA): Rose by 5%
Context for the Rebound
Thursday's gains offer a brief respite for a market that has been under sustained pressure. Bitcoin recorded a decline of more than 30% in the first six months of 2026, weighed down by persistent outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and a broader weakening of risk appetite.
Digital asset markets have increasingly moved in tandem with traditional risk assets like technology stocks, making macroeconomic data and central bank policy critical drivers for the sector.