The US dollar firmed against the euro on Friday after the US government reported fewer than expected job losses last month and fresh data pointed to an economic downturn in the eurozone.
The single European currency stood at US$1.5555 around 9pm GMT, down from US$1.5587 late on Thursday.
The dollar weakened slightly against the Japanese currency, slipping to ¥107.68 from ¥107.87.
Jamie Saettele, an analyst at Forex Capital Markets, said that as long as the euro is below US$1.5699, “the USD bull trend is considered intact and the probability that the USD advance accelerates is high.”
The US Labor Department reported that employers shed 51,000 nonfarm jobs last month, marking a seventh consecutive month of job cuts as the economy struggles to regain momentum.
But the monthly government snapshot was not as bad as feared, as most economists had predicted 75,000 jobs would be lost during last month.
The national unemployment rate meanwhile ticked up to 5.7 percent — striking its highest level in four years — from 5.5 percent in June, a shade higher than most forecasts.
“The report signals that the pace of job losses has lessened over the past few months relative to the losses seen earlier in the year, though the labor market remains weak enough to cause the unemployment rate to continue to trend higher,” Barclays Capital analyst Dean Maki said.
In late New York trading, the dollar stood at 1.0497 Swiss francs, up from SF1.0474 late on Thursday.
The pound was at US$1.9753, down from US$1.9836.
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