NEW YORK, March 10 (Xinhua) — The U.S. dollar weakened in late trade on Friday as market participants digested February U.S. payrolls.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, fell 0.68 percent to 104.5913.
In late New York trading, the euro was up at US$1.0645 from US$1.0577 in the previous session, and the British pound was up at US$1.2031 from US$1.1911 in the previous session.
The US dollar bought 134.80 Japanese yen, down from 136.16 Japanese yen from the previous session. The US dollar fell to 0.9213 Swiss francs from 0.9358 Swiss francs, and it was up to 1.3829 Canadian dollars from 1.3823 Canadian dollars. The US dollar fell to SEK 10.6866 from SEK 10.7310.
Total U.S. nonfarm payroll employment rose by 311,000 in February, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.6 percent, the Labor Department reported on Friday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had predicted 225,000 new jobs.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.2 percent, less than consensus of 0.3 percent, the report showed.
“From a Fed policy standpoint, any job gains of 300,000 or more are overstated, and given their focus on services inflation, this report suggests pressures remain significant,” Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, said in a note on Friday .
Source: sn.dk