NEW YORK, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar lost in late trading on Friday, despite U.S. job gains being far higher than expected and above August's total of 227,000.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, decreased 0.28 percent to 106.0454 in late trading.
The U.S. job growth heated up in September, adding 336,000 positions, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While September marked the 33rd consecutive month of job growth for the United States, the Federal Reserve has been aiming to slow the economy and cool down the labor market. The U.S. dollar eased after a brief rise, wiping out all its daily gains.
JPMorgan Chase's chief U.S. economist Michael Feroli said Friday that the hotter-than-expected jobs report is unlikely to change the Federal Reserve's expected decision to pause interest rates in November, but data showing a surprise increase in inflation could be what drives the central bank to raise rates.
"If that happens, the already tenuous case for avoiding recession next year gets harder to make," Feroli wrote in a note on Friday.
Markets see a roughly 68 percent chance that the Fed pauses rates in November, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. For December, the tool shows a 58 percent expectation of another pause.
In late New York trading, the euro increased to 1.0591 U.S. dollars from 1.0550 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound rose to 1.2244 U.S. dollars from 1.2194 dollars in the previous session.
The U.S. dollar bought 149.3570 Japanese yen, higher than 148.4060 Japanese yen of the previous session. Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki on Friday declined to comment on whether the government had intervened to buy yen and drive the Japanese currency below 150 against the dollar earlier this week.
The U.S. dollar was down to 0.9094 Swiss franc from 0.9129 Swiss franc, and it decreased to 1.3655 Canadian dollars from 1.3713 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar decreased to 10.9390 Swedish Krona from 11.0066 Swedish Krona.
