CME: New Futures Contracts on Nonfarm Payrolls

Effective Sunday, April 27, 2008, for trade date April 28, 2008, the CME Group will launch Nonfarm Payroll (NFP) futures and options on futures to coincide with the release of the NFP economic date on Friday, May 2.

These plain vanilla contracts are based on the monthly U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report usually released on the first Friday of each month that measures employment health. NFP futures and options are a transparent, straightforward and accessible way for you to gain direct exposure to the government labor number or to offset unexpected financial market moves that often occur when this number comes out.

The Nonfarm Payroll report is the first major economic release of each month that speaks to the condition of the prior month and is closely followed as a way to gauge how the Federal Open Markets Committee perceives economic growth.

(HT: Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution)