WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The dollar was steady against most major currencies on Friday, supported by upbeat U.S. jobs data and on rising optimism about U.S.-China trade talks.
Data from the Labor Department said job growth in the U.S. showed a substantial reacceleration in the month of March, after nearly grinding to a halt in the previous month.
The report said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 196,000 jobs in March after edging up by a revised 33,000 jobs in February.
Economists had expected employment to increase by about 180,000 jobs compared to the uptick of 20,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Despite the stronger than expected job growth, the unemployment rate held at 3.8% in March, unchanged from February and in line with economist estimates.
On U.S.-China trade front, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said the two sides have conducted fruitful consultations in the past two days, especially on important issues such as the text of economic and trade agreements.
The dollar index was up by about 0.1% at 97.40, after rising to a high of 97.47 earlier.
Against the euro, the dollar was up at 1.1218" recovering from a low of 1.1249 and against British Pound Sterling, it gained over 0.3%, strengthening to 1.3036 a sterling, recovering from a low of $1.3122.
The Japanese yen was up slightly with a dollar buying 111.70 yen.
The dollar gained 0.17% against the loonie with the pair trading at 1.3382. Against the Aussie, the greenback was up 0.1% at 0.7105, while trading flat against Swiss franc.
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