The U.S. Dollar lost ground on its major counterparts Friday, after data showed a rise in unemployment and slower wage growth for February. This data tempered expectations of a Fed rate hike this month by 50 basis points.
According to data from the Labor Department, the unemployment rate grew from 3.4% to 3.6% in the month of February. The unemployment rate was expected not to change.
The wage growth was 0.2% over the previous month and 4.6% over the past year, which is below expectations of 0.3% and 4,7% respectively.
However, the non-farm payroll job count jumped by 311,000 positions in February. This followed a spike of 504,000 jobs that was revised in January.
Economists were expecting employment to rise by 205,000 jobs, compared with the original report of 517,000 jobs.
The dollar index fell to 104.04 in the morning and recovered to reach 104.64 during the afternoon session. However, it remained weak with a loss of 0.65%.
Dollar weakened against Euro to 1.0639, down from 1.0585.
The dollar has dropped to 1.2032 from 1.1924. Dollars fell against the Japanese currency to 135.13yen, down from 136.14yen.
The dollar has gained a little against the Aussie, at 0.6582. The dollar is slightly stronger against the Swiss franc.
