The dollar bounced higher against the other major currencies on Friday, as markets digested the latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which was considered as overall positive. The U.S. Department of Labor said the economy added 222,000 jobs in June, beating expectations for an increase of 179,000. A total of 152,000 jobs were created in May, whose figure was reivsed from a previously estimated gain of 138,000. However, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4% last month from 4.3% in May, compared to expectations for an unchanged reading. The report also showed that average hourly earnings rose 0.2% in June, disappointing expectations for a 0.3% gain and after a downwardly revised 0.1% uptick the previous month. The data came a day after payrolls processor ADP reported that U.S. private employers added 158,000 jobs in June, well below economists' expectations. EUR/USD slid 0.33% to 1.1385. The single currency found support after the minutes of the European Central Bank's June meeting on Thursday showed that officials discussed removing the easing bias from its latest monetary policy statement, before deciding against it. Elsewhere, GBP/USD declined 0.77% to trade at 1.2870 after the U.K. Office for National Statistics reported that manufacturing production fell 0.2% in May, disappointing expectations for a 0.5% rise and after an increase of 0.2% the previous month. Year-on-year, manufacturing production increased by 0.4%, less than the expeccted 1.0% advance. The report also showed that industrial production slipped 0.1% in May, compared to expectations for a 0.4% rise. USD/JPY advanced 0.57% to 113.86, while USD/CHF gained 0.47% to trade at 0.9651. The Australian dollar remained higher, with AUD/USD up 0.26% at 0.7606 and with NZD/USD held steady at 0.7271. Meanwhile, USD/CAD dropped 0.51% to trade at 1.2912 after Statistics Canada reported that the number of employed people increased by 45,300 in June, exceeding expectations for a 10,000 rise and after a 54,500 gain the previous month. The unemployment rate fell to 6.5% last month from 6.6% in May, confounding expectations for an unchanged reading. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.36% at 95.92
Source - Investing