Dollar wobbles against euro on grim US jobs report
Sunday, 9 November 2008
NEW YORK, Nov 8 (AFP): The dollar wobbled slightly against the euro yesterday as a grim US employment report signaled the United States has entered a painful recession.
The single European currency was at 1.2719 dollars around 2200 GMT, up a notch from 1.2713 late Thursday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar rose to 98.21 yen from 97.72 yen.
In late New York trade, the dollar rose to 1.1783 Swiss francs from 1.1775 late Thursday.
The pound edged up to 1.5645 dollars from 1.5623.
The US unemployment rate rose in October to its highest level since 1994, official data showed Friday, with analysts forecasting it to increase further in Barack Obama's first year as president.
The Labor Department said the jobless rate rose to 6.5 per cent as the world's largest economy shed 240,000 jobs amid the credit squeeze and downturn.
The US economy has lost jobs for 10 straight months in 2008 and the Labor Department revised losses in August and September sharply higher.
The dismal jobs news also increased speculation that the Fed would lower interest rates again, after slashing its key rate by a half point, to 1.0 per cent, on October 29.
The jobs data underlined the challenge for President-elect Barack Obama, who met Friday with his economic team.
Analysts forecast that the jobless rate would climb above 7.0 per cent next year after Obama's inauguration on January 20, with the peak seen about 7.5 per cent in the middle to end of the year.
The data confirmed the severity of the economic downturn underway in the United States where months of turmoil on stock markets, tightening of credit and record-low consumer confidence have taken their toll.
"Most recent macroeconomic figures show a rapid pace of deterioration suggesting a deepening recession," said economist Amine Tazi at investment bank Natixis, pointing to other indicators of activity.
The single European currency was at 1.2719 dollars around 2200 GMT, up a notch from 1.2713 late Thursday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar rose to 98.21 yen from 97.72 yen.
In late New York trade, the dollar rose to 1.1783 Swiss francs from 1.1775 late Thursday.
The pound edged up to 1.5645 dollars from 1.5623.
The US unemployment rate rose in October to its highest level since 1994, official data showed Friday, with analysts forecasting it to increase further in Barack Obama's first year as president.
The Labor Department said the jobless rate rose to 6.5 per cent as the world's largest economy shed 240,000 jobs amid the credit squeeze and downturn.
The US economy has lost jobs for 10 straight months in 2008 and the Labor Department revised losses in August and September sharply higher.
The dismal jobs news also increased speculation that the Fed would lower interest rates again, after slashing its key rate by a half point, to 1.0 per cent, on October 29.
The jobs data underlined the challenge for President-elect Barack Obama, who met Friday with his economic team.
Analysts forecast that the jobless rate would climb above 7.0 per cent next year after Obama's inauguration on January 20, with the peak seen about 7.5 per cent in the middle to end of the year.
The data confirmed the severity of the economic downturn underway in the United States where months of turmoil on stock markets, tightening of credit and record-low consumer confidence have taken their toll.
"Most recent macroeconomic figures show a rapid pace of deterioration suggesting a deepening recession," said economist Amine Tazi at investment bank Natixis, pointing to other indicators of activity.