Jobs data helps USD

Jobs data helps USD

Story link: Jobs data helps USD

TAGS:

The US dollar strengthened in relation to the euro Friday after the Labor Department’s official jobs numbers showed that the United States economy only lost 524,000 jobs in December, fewer than expected and many fewer than a private report showed earlier in the week.

In late morning trade in New York the greenback traded at $1.3506 to the euro.

At the same time, the yen gained on both the dollar and the euro, with the Japanese currency at ¥90.235 to the dollar and at ¥121.8733 to the euro.

The euro’s losses came amid expectations that the European Central Bank will cut the Eurozone interest rate by half a percentage point to 2 percent when it meets next week.

The Korean won lost more ground to the US dollar after the Bank of Korea cut an interest rate to 2.5 percent, its fifth rate cut in recent months and a record low.

The cuts by the Korean central bank are an effort to rescue the nation’s economy, where industrial production and exports are both down.

At late morning in New York the won traded at 1,323.4 to the dollar.