Yen, dollar weaken on US jobs data

Yen, dollar weaken on US jobs data

Story link: Yen, dollar weaken on US jobs data

TAGS:

The yen and the US dollar were weaker Friday on the possibility that demand for them as a safe place for investors to put their money will decline if the United States Congress passes an economic stimulus package.

A vote on the package could come as soon as later today.

US President Barack Obama said Thursday that failure to pass his plan soon would mean “catastrophe� for the US economy.

While some legislators are looking for cuts totaling over $50 billion before they will vote yes on the package, a new Labor Department report which shows that the US lost 598,000 more jobs in January, the most in a month in over 34 years.

The new job losses drove the US unemployment rate up to 7.6 percent.

At just before 11:30 a.m. in New York, the yen was lower versus both the euro and the US dollar, with the Japanese currency trading at ¥118.0391 to the shared currency and at ¥91.74 to the greenback, while the dollar lost ground to the euro to trade at $1.2867 to the Eurozone’s currency.

The pound was stronger, building on Thursday’s gains after the Bank of England cut UK interest rates to 1 percent.

In late morning trade in New York, the pound traded at 87.2p to the euro while it took $1.4756 to buy a pound.