Investing.com - The dollar pushed slightly lower against other major currencies on Friday, despite the release of upbeat U.S. employment data, but losses were expected to remain limited as the strong report added to expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve next week.
EUR/USD was up 0.48% at 1.0627.
The U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 235,000 jobs last month, beating expectations for an increase of 200.000. The economy created 238,000 jobs in January, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated gain of 227,000.
The U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 4.7% in February from 4.8% the previous month, in line with expectations.
The report also showed that average hourly earnings rose 0.2% last month, compared to expectations for an increase of 0.3%.
Meanwhile, the euro remained supported after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi struck a more upbeat tone on the outlook for the recovery in the euro zone on Thursday, while reiterating that the present monetary policy stance remains appropriate.
The comments came after the ECB kept interest rates unchanged at the outcome of its meeting earlier and reiterated they can be cut again in the future if necessary.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD was little changed at 1.2159, just off Thursday’s seven-week low of 1.2134.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that manufacturing production fell 0.9% in January, worse than expectations for a drop of 0.6%.
Year-on-year, manufacturing production increased 2.7% in January, below forecasts for a 3.0% advance.
On a more positive note, the U.K. trade deficit narrowed to £10.83 billion in January from a revised £10.91 billion in December. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to £11.05 billion in January.
USD/JPY advanced 0.31% to trade at 115.34, the highest since January 19, while USD/CHF eased 0.08% to 1.0112.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.55% at 0.7547 and with NZD/USD climbing 0.51% to 0.6935.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD dropped 0.58% to trade at 1.3432, pulling away from the previous session’s more than two-month peak of 1.3536.
Also Friday, Statistics Canada said the number of employed people increased by 15,300 in February, beating expectations for a 2,500 rise and after a 48,300 climb the previous month.
Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 6.6% last month from 6.8% in January. Analysts had expected an unchanged reading last month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.34% at 101.62, the lowest since March 7.