Investing.com - The euro dropped to 2-year lows against a surging dollar on Friday after data revealed the U.S. added far more payrolls in September than markets were expecting.
In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was down 1.22% at 1.2515, up from a session low of 1.2501 and off a high of 1.2675.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2500, the low from Sept. 5, 2012, and resistance at 1.2716, Monday's high.
The Department of Labor reported earlier that the U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September, far more than the expected 215,000 increase. The number of jobs created in August was revised to 180,000 from a previous estimate of 142,000.
In addition, the U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 5.9% last month from 6.1% in August.
Analysts had expected the rate to remain unchanged, and the numbers boosted the dollar by cementing expectations for the Federal Reserve to close its monthly bond-buying program later this month and begin hiking interest rates sooner rather than later in 2015.
Elsewhere, the Institute of Supply Management said its non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index slipped to 58.6 in September from a reading of 59.6 in August. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 58.5 last month.
A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $40.10 billion in August from $40.30 billion in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $40.60 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to $40.90 billion in August.
The U.S. jobs report served as the pair's chief steering current, eclipsing otherwise cheery European data showing that euro zone retail sales rose 1.2% in August, beating expectations for an uptick of 0.1%, after 0.4% fall in July.
Year-on-year, retail sales increased by 1.9% in August, more than the expected 0.5% rise. July's figure was revised to a 0.5% gain from a previously estimated 0.8% rise.
Earlier Friday, Markit said the euro zone services PMI ticked down to 52.4 in September from 52.8 the previous month, confounding expectations for the index to remain unchanged.
Markit also reported that Germany's services PMI rose to 55.7 last month from a reading of 55.4 in August, while France's services PMI fell to 48.4 in September from 49.4 in August.
Elsewhere, the euro was down against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.10% at 0.7839, and down against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.05% at 137.30.