US dollar climbs amid economic data

The US dollar strengthened in late trading on Monday as market participants continued to digest some key economic data.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.38 per cent at 93.0753.

In late New York trading, the euro was down to $1.1811 from $1.1849 in the previous session, and the British pound fell to $1.3168 from $1.3289 in the previous session. The Australian dollar fell to $0.7276 from $0.7296, Xinhua reported.

The US dollar bought 106.28 Japanese yen, higher than 106.19 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar rose to 0.9162 Swiss franc from 0.9122 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.3094 Canadian dollars from 1.3046 Canadian dollars.

US employers added 1.4 million jobs in August, and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 per cent, as the nation’s pandemic-ravaged labor market continues to slowly recover, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting growth of 1.32 million and the jobless rate to decline to 9.8 per cent from 10.2 per cent in July.

The US unemployment rate previously soared to a record 14.7 per cent in April. Payrolls are still about 11 million below pre-pandemic levels.

Foreign exchange trading was relatively thin as US financial markets were closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.