Investing.com - The dollar extended gains against a basket of other major currencies on Friday, to trade near a six-year peak after data showed that the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected last month.
The Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs in November, exceeding expectations for jobs growth of 225,000. October's figure was revised up to 243,000 from a previously estimated 214,000, pointing to underlying strength in the labor market.
The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8% last month, in line with expectations.
A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit hit $43.40 billion in October, down from $43.60 billion in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $43.00 billion. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to $41.20 billion in October.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, climbed 0.73% to 89.31, the highest level since March 2009.
EUR/USD dropped 0.78% to fresh two-year lows at 1.2285.
The single currency had strengthened on Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicated that the bank would not embark on quantitative easing for now, saying the bank would reassess its stimulus program in the first quarter of 2015.
Earlier Friday, official data showed that German factory orders rose 2.5% in October, exceeding expectations for a 0.6% gain. Factory orders in September were revised to an increase of 1.1% from a previously estimated 0.8% rise.
USD/JPY climbed to fresh seven-year highs of 121.39, the most since July 2007 and was last up 1.21% to 121.25.
The yen remained under pressure after Japanese media outlets reported on Thursday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's coalition government could retain its majority in the lower house of parliament in elections due to be held on December 14.
GBP/USD slipped 0.27% to 1.5633, while USD/CHF advanced 0.79% to trade at 0.9787.
The Australian dropped to fresh four-year lows, with AUD/USD down 0.69% to 0.8326 and NZD/USD retreated 0.70% to 0.7727.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD rose 0.34% to 1.1425 after Statistics Canada reported that the number of employed people declined by 10.700 last month, compared to expectations for an increase of 5,300. The number of employed people rose by 43,100 in October.
Canada's unemployment rate ticked up to 6.6% in November from 6.5% the previous month, in line with expectations.
Data also showed that Canada's trade surplus narrowed to C$0.10 billion in October from C$0.31 billion in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated surplus of C$0.71 billion. Analysts had expected the trade surplus to hit C$0.40 billion in October.