Dollar steady as jobs report surprises upwards

The dollar rose on Friday following the jobs report which showed U.S. employers added far more jobs than expected in June and previous months, keeping the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates at least one more time this year.

After the jobs report, the greenback climbed to two-month highs against the yen. The buck also hit more than one-week peak against sterling.

Friday's data showed U.S. non-farm payrolls jumped by 222,000 jobs last month, beating economists' expectations for a 179,000 gain. Data for April and May was revised to show 47,000 more jobs created than previously reported.

Despite the employment headline number being so strong, inflation pressure was still weak. Average hourly earnings, which currency and bond traders also monitor closely, rose just 0.2 percent in June, down from expectations of a 0.3 percent rise.

EUR/USD fell below 1.14, from 1.1411 ahead of the jobs report, and was last at 1.14, to start the week. That pushed the dollar index up 0.21 percent at 96.00.

GBP/USD, fell to a more than one-week low of 1.2871 before edging up 0.01 percent to 1.289.

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