Dollar drops after U.S. jobs report

The U.S. dollar appeared slightly lower against a basket of major currencies after the December jobs report that missed anticipations.

The dollar index dropped after the Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls increased by 198,000 in December. The results turned out to be well short of the 400,000 estimates.

At the same time, analysts mentioned underlying data in the report appeared stronger. The result is that the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8% against expectations of 4.2%, while earnings increased by 0.7%.

Chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade in Chicago, JJ Kinahan, said that all those essential places continue to grow which is fantastic.

The report also increased anticipations the Fed will begin to hike interest rates at its meeting scheduled for March. The dollar index dropped 0.268% at 96.002. Even with Friday’s weakness, the dollar turned out to be on track for a weekly gain, the first in four weeks.

Overview of the Dollar and other currencies

The euro was up 0.4% to $1.1326 as it strengthened against the greenback due to the payrolls report. After the little reaction to data, eurozone inflation increased to 6% in December.

Eurozone policymakers expect inflation to slow down in 2022 gradually, and a rate hike will probably not be needed this year.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.13% versus the greenback at 115.72 per dollar. The yen has suffered from the damage while the greenback has boosted recently, with the dollar reaching a five-year high. Sterling was the last trading at $1.357, up 0.25%, even after data showed growth in Britain’s construction sector chilled in December as the Omicron strain spread.

Investors have considered the virus unlikely to derail the global economy despite the virus’s rapid spread.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin last lost 2.56% to $41,999.76. Ethereum last dropped 5.64% to $3,216.45, on track for a fourth straight daily drop, after dropping to its lowest level since the beginning of October.

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