NEW YORK: The dollar rallied slightly against the euro and other major currencies on Friday after a solid May US jobs report pointed to growth in the world's largest economy.
US employers created more than 200,000 jobs for the fourth straight month in May, the Labor Department said.
A net 217,000 positions were added, nearly all by the private sector.
Though a hair below expectations, the report generally showed the recovery in the labor market was steadily improving. The unemployment rate held steady at 6.3 percent after dropping from 6.7 percent to that level in April.
Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management said the jobs report showed the ailing labor market was improving but not strongly enough to push the Federal Reserve to reconsider its current monetary policies, including the measured reduction of its asset-purchase program.
"The data only reinforces the central bank's cautious approach to unwinding stimulus. While there was enough improvement for the Fed to continue tapering it will be some time before the central bank considers raising interest rates," Lien said.
FT Advisors economists said the "solid" jobs report reinforced their expectations of "continued Plow Horse gains" in the coming months that will push the jobless rate below 6.0 percent later this year.
"In turn, this will help put pressure on the Federal Reserve to move up short-term interest rates in the first half of 2015," they said in a research note.
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