WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar turned weak on Friday amid easing worries about an aggressive rate hike by the Fed later this month after data showed a moderation in the pace of U.S. job growth and an uptick in unemployment rate in August.
The report showed non-farm payroll employment rose by 315,000 jobs in August after surging by a revised 526,000 jobs in July.
Economists had expected employment to increase by about 300,000 jobs compared to the jump of 528,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate edged up to 3.7 percent in August from 3.5 percent in July. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.
The unexpected uptick by the unemployment rate came as the labor force increased by 786,000 persons, more than outpacing the 442,000-person growth in the household measure of employment.
Amid recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates, the jobs data was described as a 'goldilocks' report by some economists, coming in neither too hot nor too cold.
Meanwhile, data released by the Commerce Department showed factory orders slumped by 1% in July after surging by a revised 1.8% in June.
The steep drop surprised economists, who had expected factory orders to edge up by 0.2% compared to the 2% jump originally reported for the previous month.
The unexpected pullback in factory orders was partly due to a notable decrease in orders for non-durable goods, which tumbled by 1.9% in July after shooting up by 1.4% in June.
The report also showed durable goods orders edged down by 0.1% in July after spiking by 2.3% in June. Last week, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders were virtually unchanged.
The dollar index, which surged to 109.98 in the previous session, dropped to 108.93 before recovering to 109.60, down just marginally from the previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 0.9959 from 0.9948.
The dollar recovered to 1.1516 against Pound Sterling after falling to 1.1589.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar is roughly flat, fetching 140.22 yen a unit, after having climbed to 140.80 yen earlier in the session.
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