WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar climbed higher on Friday thanks to data showing a bigger than expected addition in non-farm payroll employment in the month of November, and on a report showing an improvement in consumer sentiment.
The Labor Department data said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 227,000 jobs in November after rising by an upwardly revised 36,000 jobs in October.
Economists had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs compared to the uptick of 12,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2% in November from 4.1% in October. The modest increase matched economist estimates.
The uptick by the unemployment rate increased confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by another 25 basis points later this month.
A report released by the University of Michigan on Friday showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved by slightly more than anticipated in the month of December.
The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index climbed to 74.0 in December from 71.8 in November. Economists had expected the index to rise to 73.0.
The consumer sentiment index reached its highest level since April, as the current economic conditions index spiked to 77.7 in December from 63.9 in November.
The dollar index climbed to 106.12 this afternoon, and despite easing to 105.98, remained well placed above the flat line, gaining about 0.25%.
Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.0567 after having weakened to 1.0630 a unit of the European currency earlier in the day. The dollar gained against Pound Sterling to 1.2743.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar eased to 149.98 yen. The dollar strengthened to 0.6392 against the Aussie, gaining nearly 1%.
The Swiss franc traded flat against the greenback at CHF 0.8786, while the Loonie weakened to 1.4158 a unit of the U.S. currency from 1.4026.
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