Investing.com - The U.S. dollar ended Friday’s session lower against the Swiss franc after briefly rising when the latest U.S. jobs showed that the unemployment rate dropped to a more than five year low last month but also pointed to weaker earnings growth and a drop in labor force participation.
USD/CHF initially rose to session highs of 0.8842 before falling back to settle at 0.8779 at the close, down 0.14%. For the week, the pair lost 0.27%.
The pair is likely to find support at 0.8740 and resistance at 0.8825.
The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs in April, well above expectations for jobs growth of 210,000. The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to a five and a half year low of 6.3%, compared to expectations for 6.6%.
The report also showed that the labor force participation rate, which measures the proportion of people either working or looking for work, fell to 62.8% from 63.2% in March. Meanwhile, average wage growth edged down in April from the same month a year earlier, dampening the medium term inflation outlook.
Earlier in the week, preliminary data showed that U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of just 0.1% in the first three months of the year, well below forecasts for an expansion of 1.2%.
Despite the sharp slowdown in growth the Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would reduce its bond purchases to $45 billion a month. The Fed also said interest rates would remain on hold at record lows for a "considerable time" after the bond-buying program ends later this year.
The U.S. central bank acknowledged that first quarter growth was far weaker than expected, but added that growth had started to pick up in recent weeks.
In the week ahead, investors will be looking ahead to Monday’s report on U.S. service sector activity and Wednesday’s testimony by Fed Chair Janet Yellen on monetary policy and the economy.
Meanwhile, the Swiss National Bank is to release data on foreign currency reserves.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of these and other significant events likely to affect the markets. The guide skips Friday as there are no relevant events on this day.
Monday, May 5
The Institute of Supply Management is to publish a report on U.S. service sector activity.
Tuesday, May 6
The U.S. is to release data on the trade balance, the difference in value between imports and exports.
Wednesday, May 7
The SNB is to publish data on its foreign currency reserves. This data is closely scrutinized for indications of the size of the bank’s operations in currency markets.
Later Wednesday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen is to testify before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, in Washington.
Thursday, May 8
Switzerland is to produce a report on consumer price inflation, which accounts for the majority of overall inflation..
The U.S. is to publish the weekly report on initial jobless claims.