* U.S. jobs weaker than expected, but solid overall
* Rate futures pare bets on Fed easing at two upcoming meetings
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
(Recasts, adds U.S. jobs data, new comment, FX table, updates prices, changes byline, dateline; previous
LONDON)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The dollar rose on Friday after three straight days of losses, as
investors took comfort in a U.S. non-farm payrolls number which, while below the consensus forecast, was
not as bad as the market initially feared.
The greenback hit session highs against the yen and euro following the jobs report, after trading
lower for most of the session.
Data showed that U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 136,000 jobs last month. August data was revised
to show 168,000 jobs created instead of the previously reported 130,000 positions. Economists polled by
Reuters had forecast payrolls would increase by 145,000 jobs in September. The unemployment rate dropped to a near 50-year low of 3.5%.
"Going into it and considering what we saw with the two ISM surveys, it could have been a lot worse.
It's probably just right for the market and not as dire as many people expected," said John Velis, global
macro strategist, at BNY Mellon in New York.
"It doesn't mean that the economy and the jobs market are falling off a cliff. On the other hand, it's
not strong enough that it's going to take out this additional Fed easing that has been priced into the
curve the last few days."
A drop in U.S. unemployment in September pushed traders of U.S. short-term interest rate futures on
Friday to pare bets the Federal Reserve will cut rates at both of its two upcoming meetings. The jobs data was a big relief to dollar bulls after two weak reports that heightened U.S. recession
fears.
On Thursday, a survey from the U.S. Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed its non-manufacturing
activity index falling to 52.6 in September, the lowest since August 2016 and down from 56.4 in August.
The non-manufacturing data came on the heels of ISM's survey on Tuesday on manufacturing that showed
activity plunging to more than 10-year lows.
In morning trading, the dollar index .DXY was up 0.1% at 98.933, rising slightly against the yen to
106.98 yen JPY= .
The euro was modestly higher though versus the dollar at $1.0973 EUR= .
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar AUD=D3 and the New Zealand dollar NZD=D3 were off their highs
after the U.S. report.
========================================================
Currency bid prices at 9:30AM (1330 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.0969 $1.0964 +0.05% -4.36% +1.0997 +1.0958
Dollar/Yen JPY= 106.9500 106.9000 +0.05% -3.00% +107.1200 +106.6000
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 117.36 117.20 +0.14% -7.02% +117.4600 +117.0900
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9947 0.9991 -0.44% +1.36% +1.0007 +0.9930
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2300 1.2328 -0.23% -3.58% +1.2356 +1.2282
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3302 1.3335 -0.25% -2.46% +1.3339 +1.3299
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6762 0.6741 +0.31% -4.06% +0.6767 +0.6739
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0913 1.0951 -0.35% -3.03% +1.0977 +1.0910
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8917 0.8889 +0.31% -0.75% +0.8925 +0.8881
NZ NZD= 0.6326 0.6300 +0.41% -5.82% +0.6336 +0.6297
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 9.1018 9.1234 -0.24% +5.36% +9.1328 +9.0911
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.9867 10.0084 -0.22% +0.81% +10.0195 +9.9807
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.8515 9.8683 -0.10% +9.90% +9.8720 +9.8334
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.8096 10.8205 -0.10% +5.32% +10.8247 +10.8030
Dollar index https://tmsnrt.rs/2MjlGFI
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>