Bitcoin dips back under $80,000 as US layoffs stay near 57-year lows

Bitcoin couldn't hold the line. The world's biggest crypto slipped back under $80,000 on Wednesday after fresh US data showed employers are still clinging to their workers, cooling hopes for quick Federal Reserve rate cuts. It was changing hands around $79,356 at the time of writing, up 1.3% over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Earlier in the session it had pushed above $80,500 before momentum ran out.

The trigger was a jobs report that came in hotter than anyone expected. Initial unemployment claims dropped by 6,000, landing at 189,000 for the week ending October 31 — well under the 196,000 analysts had penciled in, according to a US News report. The prior week's number was revised up to 195,000. That reading matched the lowest level since mid-July, which itself was the lowest since 1969.

Dig into the details and the picture gets murkier. Weekly claims have now sat at or below 200,000 for eight straight weeks, the Associated Press reported, with the four-week moving average dipping to 194,750. But continuing claims — the count of Americans actually collecting benefits — climbed by 23,000 to 1.718 million, per Reuters. Translation: bosses aren't firing, yet those who do lose a job are taking longer to land the next one.

Why does that matter for crypto? A sturdy labour market hands the Fed room to keep borrowing costs high while it watches inflation, which could take urgency off further easing. Policymakers left the benchmark rate untouched at 3.75% to 4% at their October meeting, and traders are now hunting for signals ahead of the next decision. Risk assets like Bitcoin tend to sweat that scenario.

The drop caps a wild stretch for the coin, which had already been whipsawed by the US midterm elections. Bitcoin briefly sank toward $75,600 before buyers stormed back, helped along by roughly $378 million in bearish positions getting liquidated within a single hour. Institutional flows stayed uneven too: US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $74.6 million net on November 4, snapping three sessions of outflows. Fidelity's FBTC hauled in $236.7 million, while BlackRock's IBIT bled $201.2 million.

Now all eyes land on the levels. The $79,000 to $79,500 zone is the nearest floor to watch, and a sustained break below it could open the door to $78,000. Bulls need to reclaim $80,000 and then chew through $80,500 to $80,800 to get their groove back. Next up on the macro calendar: the October employment report on November 6, where FactSet-surveyed economists expect roughly 65,000 jobs added and unemployment holding at 4.2%.