Forex - Dollar mixed on jobless numbers
Published Jul 08, 2011 11:59AM ET
During U.S. morning trade the greenback was up against the euro with EUR/USD dropping 0.97% to hit 1.4223.
In figures released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics nonfarm payrolls gained only 18,000 in June, far below the 90,000 anticipated by the market.
The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 9.2% in June from 9.1% in the previous month, the highest level since December. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged. The jobless rate has risen steadily from 8.8% in March.
The slowdown comes as a surprise to market watchers who had expected gains in the labor market for the second half of the year. The U.S. Federal Reserve recently predicted a 3.5% growth rate in the economy over the next 18 months.
New York stocks suffered as a result of the poor labor figures in morning trade Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower by 0.92% to 12,602, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.15% to 2,840, and the S&P 500 retreated 1.14% to 1.338.
Meanwhile, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc with USD/JPY down 0.69% to hit 80.66, and USD/CHF dipping 0.74% to hit 0.8381.
The greenback was up against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts with USD/CAD up 0.39% to hit 0.9625, AUD/USD down 0.48% to hit 1.0723, and NZD/USD lower by 0.02% to hit 0.8332.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies rose 0.41% to 75.52.
U.S. consumer credit numbers were expected later in the trading day from the Federal Reserve, an indication of consumption health and and consumer spending.
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Written By: Investing.com
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