Investing.com - The pound was steady near 11-month lows against the dollar on Monday after Friday’s stronger-than-forecast U.S. jobs report boosted expectations for an early hike in interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5965, hovering just above Friday’s lows of 1.5950, the lowest since November 2013.
The U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September, the Labor Department reported Friday, well ahead of forecasts for jobs growth of 215,000. The unemployment rate ticked down to 5.9%, the lowest level since July 2008.
The robust data reinforced expectations that the strengthening economic recovery may prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, dipped 0.18% to 86.62, not far from Friday’s four year peaks of 86.79. It notched up its twelfth consecutive weekly gain last week, the longest rally since the index was created in 1971.
Sterling remained under pressure after data released earlier on Friday showed that U.K. services sector growth eased slightly in September, indicating that the economic recovery may be moderating.
The U.K. services purchasing managers index ticked down to a three month low of 58.7 from 60.5 in August.
The report came after data on Wednesday showed that output in the U.K. manufacturing sector slowed to a 17 month low in September.
The data was seen as increasing the likelihood that the Bank of England will leave rates on hold until next year.
Elsewhere, the pound slipped lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP at 0.7849, up slightly from 0.7835 late Friday.
In the euro zone, data on Monday showed that German factory orders fell 5.7% in August, compared to expectations for a 2.5% decline. It was the largest drop since early 2009, adding to concerns over the outlook for the region’s largest economy.
The European Central Bank refrained from implementing additional stimulus measures at its meeting last week, indicating that it will wait to see the effects of recent stimulus measures on the region’s economy.