Dollar declines on job losses

Dollar declines on job losses

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The US dollar declined versus the euro once again on Friday on a report that more jobs were lost in the United States in February, before gaining back some of the losses.

The Labor Department reported that 63,000 jobs were lost in February and that it had underestimated the job losses in January, raising the January figure to 22,000 jobs from an early report that 17,000 positions were lost.

While the unemployment rate in the US fell from 4.9 percent in January to 4.8 percent in February, that drop reflected the fact that the labor force fell by 450,000 due to unemployed workers giving up the search for a new job.

The dollar touched a new low versus the euro at $1.5459 before gaining back to $1.5361 to the euro by shortly before noon in New York.

The greenback also hit a new low in relation to the Swiss franc at SFr1.0135 to the dollar before trading at SFr1.0294 to the dollar in late morning trade in New York.

The pound was up versus the dollar and the euro, trading at $2.0084 to the dollar and at 76.49p to the euro.

Meanwhile, the South African rand gained on the US dollar and all major currencies on the day Friday but remained lower over the week as a whole.

In late morning trade in New York, the rand traded at R7.9985 to the greenback and at R12.272 to the euro, slightly off its highs earlier.