Opinion: BTC could hit new highs next week if U.S. employment and inflation slow

Author: Ciaran Lyons, CoinTelegraph; Compiler: Deng Tong, Golden Finance

Bitcoin could hit a new all-time high as early as next week after the number of U.S. job openings hit a three-year low, a sign of an economic slowdown, but two indicators are needed to confirm, a cryptocurrency researcher said.

"Last night, another key and forward-looking employment indicator, job openings, slowed sharply," Markus Thielen, head of research at 10x Research, wrote in a report on June 4.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report released on June 4 showed that in April, the country had 8.1 million job openings, with about 0.8 unemployed people per job opening, the highest ratio since February 2021.

According to Thielen, this could be the first economic indicator to point to a slowdown, which will “lead to lower inflation” — a key bullish indicator for Bitcoin.

When the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation, fell 0.1% on May 15, Bitcoin surged 7% to $71,432 over the next five days, according to CoinMarketCap.

Thielen believes that another 0.1% drop in the CPI to 3.3% would have a similar effect.

“A weaker surprise could bring a rate cut, and we’ll get the CPI inflation report next week. If the CPI [year-over-year] is 3.3% or lower, it could drive Bitcoin to new all-time highs.”

As of the time of publication, Bitcoin is trading at $71,199.

Bitcoin has risen 12.05% in the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap

Thielen noted that given that Bitcoin has broken out of a key consolidation triangle, a close above that level, coupled with lower U.S. inflation or employment data, could see Bitcoin break out of its current all-time high of $73,679 between June 7 and June 12.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its Employment Situation Summary on June 7, followed by CPI data on June 11.