The dollar had its biggest decline against the euro in eight weeks as a drop in US payrolls damped optimism about the economy.
The ouster of Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and White House economic adviser Larry Lindsey trimmed the dollar's losses.
Against the euro, the dollar weakened to US$1.0094 per euro, the biggest drop since Oct. 9, at 5:35pm on Friday in New York from US$1.0005 Thursday. It also had its largest decline against the yen since Nov. 8, sinking to Japanese yen 123.51 from Japanese yen 124.92.
In the week, the US currency lost 1.5 against the euro, its first weekly decline in four, extending its decline this year 13.5 percent. The dollar gained 0.8 percent against the yen in the week, bringing its loss in the year to 6.6 percent.
Demand for dollars slowed after the government said payrolls fell by 40,000 in November, the biggest drop since February and the jobless rate rose to 6 percent, the highest since April.
The yen's gains Friday halt a tumble earlier in the week.
Three Japanese officials suggested they want a weaker currency to trigger an export-led economic recovery.
Haruhiko Kuroda, vice finance minister for international affairs, said the yen's drop is "appropriate."
The slump started after Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said the yen at Japanese yen 150 to Japanese yen 160 per dollar would reflect the state of the world's second-largest economy. A weaker currency may help boost Japan's economy by making its exports more competitive.
"This kind of rhetoric is going to push down the yen," said Haydn Davies, chief economist in London at Barclays Global Investors, which manages about 580 billion euro (US$911 billion). He sold some dollars to buy yen this week because "I don't think it's going to have a long-term impact."
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