U.S. dollar rises amid upbeat job data
Xinhua, January 9, 2016 Adjust font size:
The U.S. dollar gained against most major currencies Friday as newly-released data showed stronger-than-expected job growth in the U.S..
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 292,000 in December, beating market estimates of 200,000, and unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.0 percent, said the U.S. Labor Department Friday.
Traders focused on the robust employment data, the first jobs report since the U.S. Federal Reserve's mid-December decision to raise its interest rates.
The upbeat report suggests that a recent manufacturing-led slowdown in economic growth would be temporary, according to the Reuters.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers,was up 0.3 percent at 98.503 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro lost to 1.0902 dollars from 1.0925 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.4522 dollars from 1.4617 dollars. The Australian dollar went down to 0.6984 dollars from 0.7001 dollars.
The dollar bought 117.67 Japanese yen, higher than 117.54 yen of the previous session. The greenback moved up to 0.9955 Swiss franc from 0.9933 Swiss franc, and moved up to 1.4138 Canadian dollars from 1.4086 Canadian dollars. Endit