NEW YORK: The euro fell to a five-week low against the dollar on Friday after a report showed US employers hired at a dismal pace in June, stoking strong risk aversion and a flight to safe havens.
The report appeared to fuel concerns that Europe's debt crisis is shifting the US economy into low gear.
While the dollar was the safer bet against the euro, investors flocked to the yen as a safer bet than the US dollar as the data raised pressure on the Federal Reserve to do more to boost the economy.
The weak US jobs data came a day after the European Central Bank cut interest rates, further dampening the euro's appeal, and China and the Bank of England announced more monetary easing.
"Obviously it's a disappointing number again," said John Doyle, senior strategist at Tempus Consulting in Washington. "This might add to the general risk-off sentiment that we've seen throughout the week."
" You might expect the yen to gain against the US dollar as you're seeing now as it will be the preferred safe-haven currency for today," Doyle said.
The euro was down 0.5 percent at $1.2332, after falling to a five week low of $1.2317 and closer towards the two-year low of $1.2286 struck on June 1.
The Labor Department said on Friday non-farm payrolls expanded by just 80,000 jobs in June, falling short of forecasts though a tad higher than a revised May reading of 77,000. Job creation during the month wasn't enough to bring down the country's lofty 8.2 percent unemployment rate.
Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.4 percent to 79.55 yen yen after reaching a two-week high on Thursday.
The euro has lost 2.6 percent against the dollar this week, and at current prices is on track for its worst weekly performance since the week ended September 11. The dollar is down 0.3 percent against the yen for the week at current prices, adding to last week's 0.8 percent decline.
"Politically and economically, it is not the environment for the euro to rally ... In a week or a month's time, it can easily get back down towards below $1.2280 and maybe even head towards $1.20," Kathleen Brooks, research director at FOREX.com said in London.
MORE EURO WEAKNESS
The ECB on Thursday cut its main interest rate to 0.75 percent and the deposit rate to zero, reducing the incentive to hold a currency already beset by debt problems.
Many analysts say the ECB's easing this week will lead the euro to take on the role of a funding currency - used to finance investments in higher-yielding assets - meaning it could struggle to make ground even when share prices rise.
"A weaker euro has to be one of the least costly solutions to the euro zone crisis," said Chris Turner, head of ING head currency strategy in London, adding he expected the euro to see an "orderly decline" towards $1.15 by year-end.
A Reuters poll conducted after the ECB rate cut showed economists expect more measures from the central bank in the coming months, possibly including another round of cheap, long-term loans for banks.
The euro also stayed near record lows hit on Thursday versus the Australian and New Zealand dollars .
Against the Swiss franc, the euro was at 1.2008 francs , continuing to hover just above the 1.20 floor for the euro/Swiss franc rate imposed by the Swiss National Bank last year in an attempt to keep its economy competitive.
The dollar rose to a fresh one-month high against the Swiss franc after the US jobs data.
Many in the market believe the SNB will struggle to maintain the cap, with data on Friday showing the SNB's foreign exchange reserves jumped 19 percent in June as the euro zone crisis forced it to intervene heavily.
The higher-yielding Australian dollar was down 0.6 percent against the US dollar at $1.0228, off a two-month high hit on Thursday following a surprise interest rate cut in China, Australia's single largest export market.
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