Dollar Rises Sharply Against Major Counterparts After Upbeat Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar gained significant ground against several major currencies on Friday as an interest rate cut in September faded a bit after data from the Labor Department showed a stronger than expected increase in the nation's non-farm payroll employment.

Data from the Labor Department showed non-farm payroll employment surged by 272,000 jobs in May after climbing by a downwardly revised 165,000 jobs in April. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 185,000 jobs compared to the addition of 175,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The report also showed the annual rate of growth by average hourly employee earnings accelerated to 4.1% in May from 4% in April.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate crept up to 4% in May from 3.9% in April. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged. With the unexpected increase, the unemployment rate reached its highest level since hitting a matching rate in January 2022.

The Atlanta Fed on Friday raised the U.S. growth estimate for the June quarter for a second time this week following the release of the better than expected payroll employment growth figures and wholesale trade data. The GDPNow model estimate for seasonally adjusted annual real GDP growth in the second quarter was raised to 3.1% from 2.6% on June 6.

The dollar index surged to 104.94, gaining more than 0.8%.

Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.0803 from 1.0889. Against Pound Sterling, the dollar strengthened to 1.2722, gaining from 1.2791.

The dollar moved up against the Japanese currency, rising to fetch 156.73 yen from 155.61 yen. Against the Aussie, the dollar was up sharply at 0.6582. The Swiss franc weakened to 0.8966 a unit of greenback, while the Loonie slipped to 1.3768 a unit of the U.S. currency, from Thursday's close of 1.3671.