Investing.com – The dollar slumped against its rivals Friday, on mixed U.S. economic data showing the economy created more jobs than expected but wage growth undershot estimates.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.34% to 93.81.
The U.S. economy added 213,000 jobs in June, above forecasts for 200,000 new jobs while the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 4%, the Labor Department said on Friday.
The Federal Reserve's view that a tighter labor market would lead to wage growth, increasing inflationary pressures, continues to be challenged as average hourly earnings grew slower-than-expected for the month.
Average hourly earnings grew 0.2%, undershooting economists' forecast for a 0.3% increase.
The weaker average hourly earnings print scaled back some bullish investor expectations for two Fed rate hikes this year.
"The softer average earnings indicator is likely to catch more attention as it highlights a still tame wage inflation environment," said Audrey Childe-Freeman, chief strategist at consultants FX Knowledge. "That could lead some market participants to start questioning whether we will see two Fed rate rises in second after all."
The dollar was also weighed down by an uptick in the Canadian dollar as upbeat employment data, reaffirmed investor expectations that the Bank of Canadian would hike interest rates by 25 basis points next week.
USD/CAD fell 0.33% to C$1.3090
U.S, and China trade tariffs kicked-in Friday, raising the prospect of a trade war between the world's largest economic superpowers, but the reaction in safe-haven currencies was muted, as some said markets had priced in the impact.
USD/JPY fell 0.14% to Y110.49, while USD/CHF fell 0.35% to 0.9898.
EUR/USD rose 0.46% to $1.1744, while GBP/USD rose 0.34% to $1.3269.