The dollar barely budged versus major rivals on Thursday, as traders shied away from big moves ahead of tomorrow's closely watched U.S. jobs report.
Economists expect a relatively tepid improvement in the nation's job market -- a pair of key preludes released over the last two days did nothing to shake speculation that the unemployment rate stayed at 8.5 percent in January.
The economy is on the mend, but not yet ready to stand on its own two feet without help from the Federal Reserve, the nation's top central banker told members of Congress on Thursday.
The sluggish expansion has left the economy vulnerable to shocks, according to Fed Chairmen Ben Bernanke's prepared testimony before the House Budget Committee.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in China talking to leaders from the world's fastest growing economy. She told reporters that Beijing is open to making contributions to the European bailout fund.
But Greece has yet to reach a deal with its lenders on a voluntary restructuring, keeping traders from taking aggressive positions in buying the euro.
The dollar was stuck near $1.3150 versus the euro. The dollar has fallen no further since hitting a monthly low of $1.3218 on Friday.
Eurozone producer price inflation eased as expected in December, lifting the scope for an interest rate cut from the European Central Bank, the latest figures from Eurostat showed Thursday.
Producer price inflation fell to 4.3 percent from 5.4 percent in the preceding month.
Versus the sterling, the dollar was steady near $1.58 after dropping to its lowest since mid-November. There was little movement near Y76 versus the yen.
New unemployment claims in the U.S. fell to a lower level than most experts had expected, according to figures released Thursday by the Labor Department. For the week ended January 28th, the Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment came in at a seasonally adjusted level of 367,000. That marks a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 379,000.
Looking ahead to tomorrow's U.S. jobs report, economists expect employment to increase by about 150,000 jobs in January, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 8.5 percent. Employment increased by 200,000 jobs in December, pushing the unemployment rate down to a nearly three-year low.
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Forex News
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.