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Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 242,000 in February, topping market expectations, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent, the U.S. Labor Department announced Friday.
However, in February, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls declined 3 cents to 25.35 U.S. dollars, following an increase of 12 cents in January.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.25 percent at 97.352 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.0995 dollars from 1.0955 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.4213 dollars from 1.4165 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7426 dollars from 0.7356 dollars.
The dollar bought 114.03 Japanese yen, higher than 113.62 yen of the previous session. The dollar increased to 0.9950 Swiss francs from 0.9910 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.3328 Canadian dollars from 1.3404 Canadian dollars.
Nonfarm payrolls grew by 242,000 jobs last month, beating forecasts for 190,000 new jobs, but average hourly wages dipped by 0.1 percent after a strong 0.5 percent increase in January.
The drop in wages suggested that U.S. inflation remained muted, analysts said. Policymakers at the Federal Reserve are watching inflation closely in their assessment of when to continue raising interest rates.
A majority of Wall Street's top banks now expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates only two more times by the end of the year, a downgrade of earlier expectations that may presage the Fed's own revised view of its path when it meets in less than two weeks.
A Reuters poll shows the median forecast of 17 primary dealers that deal directly with the Fed is for a federal funds rate of 0.875 percent by the end of the year, reflecting the mid-point of the range for two key rates used by the Fed to adjust monetary policy.
The International Monetary Fund said on Friday it will separately identify China's yuan currency in its official foreign exchange reserves database starting Oct. 1, a move prompted by the yuan's new status in the Fund's reserve currency basket.
The move will aid China's effort to secure a bigger role for its currency, also known as the renminbi, by revealing quarterly reserve holdings of yuan among the 188 IMF member countries.
China is aiming for average economic growth at or above 6.5 percent for the next five years, the government said on Saturday, as the world's No. 2 economy seeks to balance deep structural reforms, gyrating financial markets and softening global trade.
Unveiling a draft of its new five-year development plan at the annual meeting of parliament, Beijing said it would target economic growth between 6.5-7 percent in 2016.
China's economy isn't headed for a hard landing and isn't dragging on the global economy, China's top economic planner said on Sunday, but uncertainty and instability in the global economy do pose a risk to the country's growth.
China will increase military spending by 7.6 percent this year to 954.35 billion yuan ($146.67 billion), the government announced on Saturday. after last year, defense spending was budgeted to rise 10.1 percent to 886.9 billion yuan.
The European Union said on Friday that it had added 16 people and 12 companies to its sanctions list following North Korea's latest nuclear test and rocket launch.
The United Nations unanimously voted to expand existing sanctions against Pyongyang on Wednesday.
Oil prices touched two-month highs, gaining 10 percent this week. Benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 4.6 percent to $38.78, and U.S. crude CLc1 rose 4.2 percent to $36.03.
A team of international lenders from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund is likely to return to Athens in the coming week to begin to finalize a review of reforms, paving the way for more loan payouts and debt relief talks, officials said.
Reference: Reuters, Xinhua
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