Why Traders Care It's the Federal Reserve's primary inflation measure. Inflation is important to currency valuation because rising prices lead the central bank to raise interest rates out of respect for their inflation containment mandate;

Why Traders Care It's the broadest measure of economic activity and the primary gauge of the economy's health;

Why Traders Care Care It's a leading indicator of consumer inflation - when businesses pay more for labor the higher costs are usually passed on to the consumer;

Why Traders Care Care Job creation is an important leading indicator of consumer spending, which accounts for a majority of overall economic activity;

Why Traders Care Although it's generally viewed as a lagging indicator, the number of unemployed people is an important signal of overall economic health because consumer spending is highly correlated with labor-market conditions. Unemployment is also a major consideration for those steering the country's monetary policy;