New York: The US dollar increased against most major currencies as investors continued to digest the stronger-than-expected jobs report.
In late New York trading on Monday, the euro fell to $1.2400 from $1.2452 in the previous session, and the British pound dipped to $1.4001 from $1.4118 in the previous session. The Australian dollar decreased to $0.7901 from $0.7926, Xinhua news agency reported.
The US dollar bought 109.71 Japanese yen, lower than 110.26 yen of the previous session. The US dollar rose to 0.9356 Swiss franc from 0.9318 Swiss francs, and it moved up to 1.2503 Canadian dollars from 1.2393 Canadian dollars.
US total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 200,000 in January, beating market consensus of 175,000, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 per cent, the Labor Department reported on Friday.
In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 9 cents to $26.74, following an 11-cent gain in December. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 75 cents, or 2.9 per cent.
“Average hourly earnings rose the most since a 2.9% rise in June 2009, but have been so volatile in the past 12 months, it’s not yet possible to determine a pattern of wage pressures,” said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.
“The unemployment rate has stabilised at 4.1 per cent for now, but we expect it will drop again in the months ahead,” he added.
Meanwhile, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index registered 59.9 per cent in January, 3.9 percentage points higher than the seasonally adjusted December reading and beating market consensus of 56.2, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Monday.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.43 per cent at 89.575 in late trading.
IANS