Investing.com - The dollar held gains against against the other major currencies on Friday, after positive U.S. employment data and comments by Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker added to expectations for a near-term U.S. rate hike.
The Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 173.000 jobs in August, disappointing expectations for an increase of 220.000. The number of jobs created rose by 245.000 in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated gain of 215.000.
The report also showed that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.1% last month from 5.3% in July, compared to expectation for a downtick to 5.2% in August. It was the lowest level of U.S. unemployment since April 2008.
U.S. average hourly earnings rose by 0.3% in August, beating expectations for an uptick of 0.2%, after a 0.2% increase the previous month.
The greenback also received support after Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said on Friday that the U.S. economy no longer needs interest rates near zero, fuelling further speculation over a possible rate hike as soon as this month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.23% at 96.54, off session lows of 95.87.
The dollar turned higher against the euro, with EUR/USD down 0.14% at 1.1106, after rising to highs of 1.1188 earlier in the session.
The single currency remained under pressure after the European Central Bank indicated on Thursday that it could expand its quantitative easing program amid increased downside risks to its inflation outlook.
The ECB lowered its forecast for growth and inflation, citing oil prices and slowing growth in China.
Earlier Friday, official data showed that German factory orders declined by 1.4% in July, compared to expectations for a 0.6% slip. Factory orders increased by 1.8% in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated gain of 2.0%.
The dollar was still lower against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.63% to 119.32.
The dollar was higher against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD declining 0.45% to fresh three-month lows of 1.5190 and with USD/CHF gaining 0.36% to 0.9767.
The Australian dollar and New Zealand dollars pushed lower, with AUD/USD down 1.04% at 0.6945 and with NZD/USD tumbling 1.23% to 0.6319.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD advanced 0.42% to trade at 1.3233 after data showed that the number of employed people in Canada rose by 12.000 in August, confounding expectations for a 4.500 decline and after an increase of 6.600 the previous month.
Canada's unemployment rate rose to 7.0% last month from 6.8% in July. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in August.