Dollar Rises Against Major Counterparts

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar climbed higher on Friday as the Labor Department's non-farm payroll data raised bets the Federal Reserve will hold rates unchanged at its next meeting.

Data from the Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment rose by 143,000 jobs in January compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 170,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, employment in December and November surged by upwardly revised 307,000 jobs and 261,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net upward revision of 100,000 jobs.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate dipped to 4% in January from 4.1% in December. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.

"An unemployment rate at 4% is considered very low, giving the Fed reason to keep fed funds unchanged in the near term," said Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial.

A report from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment has unexpectedly deteriorated in February amid a surge by year-ahead inflation expectations.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index slumped to 67.8 in February after rising to 71.1 in January. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 72.0.

The deterioration by consumer sentiment came as year-ahead inflation expectations spiked to 4.3% in February from 3.3% in January, reaching the highest level since November 2023.

"Many consumers appear worried that high inflation will return within the next year," said Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu. "This is only the fifth time in 14 years we have seen such a large one-month rise (one percentage point or more) in year-ahead inflation expectations."

The dollar index, which climbed to 108.32, eased to 108.08 later on in the session, but still stayed firm, gaining nearly 0.4% from previous close.

Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.0329 from 1.0385. The dollar strengthened to 1.2403 against Pound Sterling.

The dollar was little changed against the Japanese currency at 151.44 yen. Against the Aussie, the dollar strengthened to 0.6269.

The Swiss franc weakened to 0.9100 a unit of greenback, easing from 0.9050. Against the Loonie, the dollar was down marginally at C$ 1.4293.