Investing.com - The dollar trimmed gains against other major currencies on Friday, after data showed that the U.S. economy added less jobs than expected last month, dampening optimism over the U.S. economy.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Friday that the economy added 148,000 jobs in December, disappointing expectations for an increase of 185,000. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%, as expected.
The report also showed that U.S. average hourly earnings rose 0.3% last month, in line with projections.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 91.61 by 08:40 a.m. ET (12:40 GMT), off session highs of 91.82.
The euro was steady, with EUR/USD at 1.2071, while GBP/USD rose 0.21% to 1.3575.
Data earlier showed that euro zone inflation fell in line with expectations in December, while another report showed that German retail sales increased more than expected in November.
The yen remained weaker, with USD/JPY up 0.28% at 113.07, while USD/CHF was little changed at 0.9745.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar was almost unchanged, with AUD/USD at 0.7868, while NZD/USD advanced 0.45% to 0.7185.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD tumbled 0.90% to a four-month low of 1.2374 after Statistics Canada reported that the number of employed people climbed 78,600 in December, blowing past expectations for a 1,000 rise.
Canada's unemployment rate ticked down to 5.7% in December from 5.9% the previous month, confounding expectations for a rise to 6.0%.