The ‘Greenback’ has extended its gains against the Japanese Yen, reaching its highest level since 2009 after US employers added more jobs than predicted last month giving the nation’s economy a healthy boost and raising optimism that the US is holding up well under the sequestration budget cuts.
The American currency also made gains against the majority of its peers rising to 0.6697 against Sterling (USD/GBP) and 0.7702 against the Euro (USD/EUR). The US Labour department revealed that the nation’s unemployment rate fell to 7.7%, taking economists by surprise. The US jobs data contrasts sharply with Europe which this week posted a new record high unemployment rate of 11.9%.
Employment rose by 236,000 in February after a revised gain of 19,000 in January. Economists had been predicting a rise of 165,000 with the jobless rate falling to 7.9%.
The good news has increased the chance that the Federal Reserve will choose to reduce its monetary easing measures as the economy begins to fulfil the objectives that it laid out for such action to be taken.
Richard Franulovich senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp told Bloomberg; “The Dollar is being rewarded on a better-than-expected payroll number, it’s holding its own at a time when equities are doing quite well and risk appetite is firming. It’s a potentially momentous correlation shift, whereby the Dollar is now a growth currency.”
The Yen has extended a second weekly loss against the Dollar as the Ministry of Finance said the deficit in the current account, the widest measure of trade, increased to 364.8 billion Yen in January, up from 264.1 billion Yen a month ago.
Current US Dollar Exchange Rates
The US Dollar to Euro (USD/EUR) exchange rate is trading at 0.7702
The US Dollar to Pound Sterling (USD/GBP) exchange rate is trading at 0.669
The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar (USD/CAD) exchange rate is trading at 1.0245
The US Dollar to Australian Dollar (USD/AUD) exchange rate is trading at 0.9765
The US Dollar to New Zealand Dollar (USD/NZD) exchange rate is trading at 1.21266
The US Dollar to Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) exchange rate is trading at 96.2462
These exchange rates were correct as of 14:30 pm GMT
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