Investing.com - The euro firmed against a sliding dollar on Friday on news that the U.S. economy picked up fewer payrolls in October than markets were expecting,
In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was up 0.42% at 1.2424, up from a session low of 1.2358 and off a high of 1.2442.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2293, the low from Aug. 20, 2012, and resistance at 1.2578, Tuesday's high.
The Department of Labor reported earlier that the U.S. economy added 214,000 jobs in October, missing expectations for an increase of 231,000. The number of jobs added in September was revised to 256,000 from a previously estimated 248,000.
The report also revealed that the U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 5.8% in October from 5.9% in September. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged last month.
While not overwhelmingly disappointing, the less-than-stellar report gave investors room to sell the greenback for profits and take time to rethink when the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates next year.
The dollar has firmed in recent weeks as investors prepare for U.S. monetary policy to grow less accommodative while Europe and Japan move in the opposite direction.
The Fed recently closed its monthly bond-buying program and is expected to raise interest rates some time in 2015, though the timing as to when next year benchmark borrowing costs may rise remains up in the air thanks to hit-or-miss U.S. data.
Elsewhere, the euro was up against the pound, with EUR/GBP up 0.44% at 0.7849, and up against the yen, with EUR/JPY up 0.02% at 142.60.