U.S. dollar rallies on jobs data

The U.S. dollar rose against other major currencies on Friday as investors were digesting the latest nonfarm payroll report from the country.

U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 156,000 in December, missing market consensus of 175,000, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.7 percent, the Labor Department announced Friday.

In December, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased 10 cents to 26.00 U.S. dollars, after edging down by 2 cents in November. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.9 percent.

The greenback climbed broadly on Friday as the report showed a slowdown in hiring in December but an increase in wages, bolstered market speculation for more rate-hikes in the future.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.72 percent at 102.250 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0561 dollars from 1.0599 dollars, and the British pound declined to 1.2266 dollars from 1.2422 dollars. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7296 dollars from 0.7341 dollars.

The dollar bought 117.05 Japanese yen, higher than 115.53 yen in the previous session. The dollar rose to 1.0175 Swiss francs from 1.0105 Swiss francs, and it edged up to 1.3244 Canadian dollars from 1.3229 Canadian dollars. Enditem