The US dollar eased from recent upward trading against major opponents in New York late morning trading on Friday. In early morning session, the greenback edged up against major rivals as the U.S. Employment increased by more than expected in March.
According to figures released by the U.S. Labor Department today, 216,000 non-farm jobs added to the economy came in higher than the 200,000 most economists had predicted and also above the 194,000 new jobs added in February, which was revised up slightly from 192,000.
The unemployment rate, at 8.8 percent, was also down from 8.9 percent, slightly lower than expected, as most economists had expected the rate to hold steady.
The Institute for Supply Management revealed in a report today showed that its purchasing managers index edged down to 61.2 in March from 61.4 in February, although a reading above 50 indicates continued growth in the manufacturing sector. The modest decrease by the index came in line with economist estimates.
In an another report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that 1.4 percent drop in spending brings the seasonally adjusted annual rate of spending down to $760.6 billion from the downwardly revised January estimate of $771 billion. Earlier estimates had placed the annualized construction spending in January at $791.8 billion.
After hitting new multi-day highs of 1.4063 against the euro and 1.5976 versus the British pound at about 9:50 am ET, the US currency reversed its direction in late morning deals. Currently, the greenback is worth 1.4198 against the euro and 1.6113 versus the sterling.
The dollar that hit more than a 6-month high of 84.74 against its Japanese counterpart at about 9:45 am ET, edged down thereafter and presently trading near 84.22.
Against the Swiss franc, the US currency also showed weakness from early morning session’s 3-week high of 0.9342 in New York late morning trading today. As of now, the greenback-franc pair is trading near 0.9266.
