Investing.com - The euro edged down against the U.S. dollar on Friday, trading within close distance of nine-year lows as upbeat U.S. nonfarm payrolls data lent further support to the greenback, while the single currency remained under broad selling pressure.
EUR/USD hit 1.1763 during U.S. morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.1776, down 0.12%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.1753, Thursday's low and a nine-year low and resistance at 1.1899, the high of January 7.
In a report, the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 252,000 jobs in December, exceeding expectations for an increase of 240,000. November's figure was revised to a 353,000 gain from a previously estimated 321,000 rise.
The report also showed that the U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 5.6% last month from 5.8% in November, compared to expectations for a decline to 5.7%.
The report came a day after data showed that U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 4,000 to 294,000 last week, just slightly above expectations of 290,000, and two days after data showed that the U.S. private sector added a larger-then-forecast 241,000 jobs in December.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable after data on Wednesday showed that the annual rate of euro zone inflation fell by 0.2% in December, down from 0.3% in November. It was the first fall in the annual rate of inflation since October 2009.
The decline in consumer prices added to expectations that the European Central Bank could implement quantitative easing as soon as its next meeting on January 22. Late last week ECB President Mario Draghi said the risk of it not fulfilling its mandate of price stability is higher now than six months ago.
Earlier Friday, data showed that French industrial production fell 0.3% in November, compared to expectations for a 0.3% rise. October's figure was revised to a 0.7% decline from a previously estimated 0.8% drop.
The euro was also lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.27% to 0.7794.
In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics earlier reported that manufacturing production rose 0.7% in November, beating expectations for a 0.3% gain, after a 0.7% fall the previous month.
On the other hand, U.K. industrial production ticked down 0.1% in November, data showed on Friday, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.2%. October's figure was revised to a 0.3% slip from a previously estimated 0.1% fall.
A separate report showed that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed to £8.85 billion in November from £9.84 billon in October, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of £9.62 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to £9.40 billion in November.