When the U.S. employment statistics for July were released, the number of employed people was significantly lower than market expectations, causing the yen to strengthen and the dollar to weaken for a time.

On the 2nd, the yen briefly hit the 146 yen range against the dollar on the New York foreign exchange market, the highest level in about four and a half months.

According to the July employment statistics released by the U.S. Department of Labor on the 2nd, the number of non-farm payroll employees increased by just 114,000, far below market expectations.

The unemployment rate also increased by 0.2 percentage points from the previous month to 4.3%.

Some experts are calling this a “mild economic recession” and saying that “high interest rates are having an impact.”