Investing.com – The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Friday after a mixed nonfarm jobs report showed the US economy created more jobs than expected but wage growth remained subdued.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.16% to 93.90.
The Labor Department said Friday, U.S. non-farm payrolls rose by 228,000 jobs in November, as the post-hurricane recovery in the labor market continued. That beat economists’ forecasts for 200,000 new jobs.
Wage growth, however, undershot expectations rising just 0.2% compared to expectations for a 0.3% increase, while wage growth in the previous month was revised downwards dropping to 0.1%
The subdued wage growth did little to derail expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike its meeting next week. That said, however, market participants warned that ongoing lucklustre wage growth could reduce expectations for a March rate hike.
“Today’s report won’t have any bearing on December, where markets widely expect a 0.25% hike, but if soft prints in wage and price inflation continue the impetus for a March rate hike is likely to fade,” TD securities said. “We expect the Fed to take the next step in rate normalization next week, followed by two more hikes in 2018.”
Also adding to dollar support was a slump in the pound following reports of a “breakthrough” in UK-EU brexit negotiations as the UK is believed to have agreed to pay up €50 billion to settle the so-called Brexit divorce bill. With the divorce bill out the way, the UK-EU negotiations on a trade deal are expected to get underway.
GBP/USD fell 0.59% to $1.3395.
The breakthrough in brexit talks trigger risk-on sentiment which weighed on safe-haven currencies such as the Swiss franc and yen, with the latter adding to overnight losses following upbeat Japan GDP data.
USD/CHF fell 0.07% to 0.9937, while USD/JPY rose 0.37% Y113.51.
EUR/USD fell 0.12% to $1.1759, while EUR/GBP rose 0.45% to £0.8776.
USD/CAD added 0.16% to $1.2874.