U.S. Dollar Little Changed Following Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - Following the modest pullback seen during Thursday's trading, the value of the U.S. dollar has shown a lack of direction on Friday.

The U.S. dollar index has bounced back and forth across the unchanged line and is currently up just 0.05 points or 0.1 percent at 102.47.

The greenback is trading at 144.73 yen versus the 144.63 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0940 compared to yesterday's $1.0945.

The volatility on the day comes as traders react to the release of some key U.S. economic data, including a closely watched Labor Department report showing stronger than expected job growth in December.

While the data initially raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates, positive sentiment prevailed as traders digested the details of the report, which also showed notable downward revisions to job growth in October and November.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged by 216,000 jobs in December compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 170,000 jobs.

At the same time, the increases in employment in October and November were downwardly revised to 105,000 jobs and 173,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 71,000 jobs.

"There's no recession threat in this report, nor any reason for the Fed to worry about overheating," said FHN Financial Chief Economist Chris Low. "It is as safely down the middle as they come."

The Institute for Supply Management also released a report showing a bigger than expected slowdown in the pace of U.S. service sector growth.

The ISM said its services PMI fell to 50.6 in December from 52.7 in November. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth, economists had expected the index to show a much more modest decrease to 52.6.