Moderate increase in US labor costs during the third quarter

The price of the cryptocurrency “Bitcoin” fell below $77,000 per unit for the first time in more than a month, which exacerbated the wave of selling in the wake of the cryptocurrency trading company Binance Holdings revealing a record hack.

Bloomberg News Agency reported that this incident raised widespread concern in the cryptocurrency market, and raised questions about the security of customer assets, even on the largest digital assets trading platform in the world.

The largest and most famous cryptocurrency in the world declined by 3.1 percent in Friday trading, reaching $76.3 thousand per unit.

Other cryptocurrencies also declined, including some that were affected by this security breach. The Binance platform's BNP currency fell by about 5 percent during the past 24 hours, reaching about $700 per unit.

The hack - during which the attackers were able to seize more than $6 billion - is the largest theft in the history of cryptocurrencies, and deals a new blow to a sector that has spent years trying to get rid of its reputation associated with hacks, fraud, and the collapse of trading platforms.

This incident also put the Binance platform's security systems under the microscope, raising questions about how a platform of this size, which includes assets worth more than $135 billion, was exposed to a hack of this massive scale.

Today, the Binance platform announced the allocation of $6.34 billion of the company’s funds to cover losses following the incident.

Jeff Kuo, chief analyst at Via BTC, said that the cryptocurrency market is already tending towards decline, and for this reason sales operations spread very quickly throughout the market, adding that “Binance” is able to absorb these losses.

Bitcoin and other digital currencies have been under pressure throughout this week, with macroeconomic factors affecting the market in general. Bitcoin continued to fluctuate around the level of $80,000 per unit during most days of the week.

Labor costs in the United States recorded a moderate increase during the third quarter, an indication that the pace of wage growth continues at moderate levels.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, affiliated with the US Department of Labor, said on Friday that the Employment Cost Index (ECI), which is the most comprehensive measure of labor costs, rose by 0.8 percent during the third quarter, after an increase of 0.9 percent in the period from April (April) to June (June). This increase was in line with economists’ expectations, according to Reuters.

Over the 12 months ending in September, labor costs rose by 3.4 percent, the same percentage recorded during the 12 months ending in June.

This indicator is considered one of the most prominent measures that policymakers rely on to assess the extent of stagnation in the labor market. It is also seen as a proactive indicator of core inflation, as it takes into account changes in the composition and quality of jobs.

Official data issued on Friday showed that Japan's imports of crude oil decreased by 17.7 percent in September compared to the same period last year, affected by the sharp decline in supplies, as tankers are forced to take a longer route to avoid the Red Sea in light of the escalation of attacks launched by the Yemeni Houthi group allied with Iran.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that imports decreased to 1.94 million barrels per day, marking the first annual decline in four months.

Imports from the Middle East fell 40.5 percent year-on-year during the month.

The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ryusei Akazawa, warned in August that Japan's oil imports in September would decline, after tankers that normally pass through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait were rerouted to take the longer Suez route.

It takes about 55 days for shipments to reach Japan via the Suez Road, compared to between 21 and 23 days via the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which is a major strategic corridor.

Saudi Arabia was among the largest suppliers of crude oil to Japan before the outbreak of the Iran war in February.

At the same time, monthly imports from the United States jumped by about 15-fold to reach about 533 thousand barrels per day, and supplies from the Sultanate of Oman and Australia also increased.

The Middle East region accounted for 94 percent of Japan's crude oil imports in 2025, but its share decreased to 68.4 percent in September, recording an annual decline for the twelfth year in a row. The United States' share rose to 27.5 percent, becoming Japan's second-largest supplier.

The data showed that sales of domestic petroleum products in Japan decreased during the month by 10.4 percent on an annual basis to 2.12 million barrels per day.

According to the data, gasoline sales decreased 8.5 percent to about 721 thousand barrels per day, while kerosene sales increased 7.3 percent on an annual basis to about 89 thousand barrels per day.