The U.S. dollar has seen considerable volatility over the course of the trading session on Friday as traders digested the closely watched monthly jobs report.
Reflecting the impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the Labor Department report showed an unexpected decrease in employment in the U.S. in the month of September.
The report said non-farm payroll employment fell by 33,000 jobs in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 169,000 jobs in August. Economists had expected employment to rise by 90,000 jobs.
The Labor Department said a sharp decline in employment in food services and drinking places and below-trend growth in some other industries likely reflected the impact of the hurricanes.
Despite the unexpected drop in employment, the unemployment rate dipped to 4.2 percent in September from 4.4 percent in August. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to hold at 4.4 percent.
With the unexpected decrease, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since hitting a matching rate in February of 2001.The report also showed a notable acceleration in the pace of wage growth, as average hourly employee earnings were up by 2.9 percent year-over-year in September compared to 2.5 percent in August.
"Hurricane disruption dragged payrolls negative, but a big fall in unemployment and significant wage increases make a December rate hike look probable," said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING.
The U.S. dollar is trading at 112.69 yen compared to the 112.82 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1729 compared to yesterday's $1.1711.
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