US dollar gains vs euro, yen on mediocre jobs report

[WASHINGTON] The US dollar gained on the euro and yen on Friday after a lackluster US jobs report that supported a Federal Reserve rate rise later this year but not necessarily this month.

The US economy pumped out 151,000 net new jobs in August, below the 180,000 expected.

It was a solid number, and analysts split on whether it was enough for the Fed to act at its meeting later this month.

"Although the data wasn't as strong as the market had expected, it was pretty much good enough that there is a possibility of a Fed hike in September," said Boris Schlossberg of BK Asset management.

But Unicredit's Harm Bandholz said the jobs number was not as high as the Fed is looking for, and that he expects the Fed to act in December.

"As the August numbers have tended to come in on the softer side in the past, we think that this mostly reflects seasonal adjustment problems rather than underlying weakness," he said in a note.

The dollar hit a one-month high against the yen at 103.99 yen. It fell slightly on the pound, to US$1.3294.

AFP