Bitcoin (BTC) Price Hits $97K Despite Disappointing US Jobs Data

Jobless claims surged at the end of April according to fresh data from the Department of Labor, but both traditional and crypto markets still rallied Thursday morning.

The U.S. jobless claims surged in the final week of April, according to fresh data released by the Department of Labor on Thursday. Despite this, both traditional and crypto markets rallied.

What Happened: The number of unemployed Americans filing for jobless benefits rose by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 241,000 for the week ending April 26, the Labor Department said. Economists polled by Dow Jones had anticipated an increase to 220,000 from the prior week's figure of 223,000, which was revised up by 1,000.

Moreover, the figures for the past two weeks have been revised to reflect a smaller decrease in jobless claims than initially reported.

The number of people collecting benefits after an initial week of unemployment, a proxy for the "sticky" jobless rate, dropped by 34,000 to 1.61 million in the week ending April 19. This figure is not subject to seasonal adjustment.

The New York state portion of spring break, which began in mid-April, had a significant impact on the jobless claims figures, causing an unexpected surge, economists noted.

“The disappointing labor market data is largely due to the New York state portion of spring break, which falls in mid-April this year and had a visible impact on jobless claims,” said economists at Standard Chartered in a Thursday note.

“This is evident in the sharp rise in jobless claims and the subsequent decline in the claims figures after removing the seasonal adjustment. However, this does not reflect a fundamental weakening of the employment landscape.”

Bitcoin Surpasses $97K As Interest Rates Remain In Focus

Bitcoin (BTC) price rose above the $97K level as traditional market indices also trended higher. A top economist at Standard Chartered said he believes bitcoin is a better hedge than gold against strategic asset allocation out of the U.S.

Bitcoin was trading up 3.37% over the past 24 hours at the time of writing, having risen to $97,178.85. In the same period, the cryptocurrency moved in a range of $93,762.50 to $97,437.96, showcasing some of the strongest moves seen this week.

The world’s leading cryptocurrency saw a 7-day price gain of about 4.05%.

As the price rallied, so did trading activity, with 24-hour volume increasing by 7.45% to $31.20 billion.

Market capitalization also followed suit, rising to $1.92 trillion, up 3.40% since yesterday. Bitcoin's dominance in the broader crypto market now stands at 64.72%, having risen slightly by 0.085 percentage points.

The derivatives market also saw some action, with Coinglass data showing BTC futures open interest jumping by 8.96% to $67.93 billion over the last 24 hours, suggesting an increase in trader activity. Liquidations totaled $892,840, with short sellers incurring the majority of the losses at $860,900 compared to $31,940 from long positions. This imbalance in liquidations could indicate a shift in short-term market sentiment toward further gains.

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