NEW YORK, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar increased against most major currencies on Monday as investors continued to digest the stronger-than-expected jobs report.
U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 200,000 in January, beating market consensus of 175,000, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.
In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 9 cents to 26.74 dollars, following an 11-cent gain in December. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 75 cents, or 2.9 percent.
"Average hourly earnings rose the most since a 2.9% rise in June 2009, but have been so volatile in the past 12 months, it' s not yet possible to determine a pattern of wage pressures," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.
"The unemployment rate has stabilized at 4.1% for now, but we expect it will drop again in the months ahead," he added.
Meanwhile, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index registered 59.9 percent in January, 3.9 percentage points higher than the seasonally adjusted December reading and beating market consensus of 56.2, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said Monday.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.43 percent at 89.575 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.2400 dollars from 1.2452 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound dipped to 1.4001 dollars from 1.4118 dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7901 dollar from 0.7926 dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 109.71 Japanese yen, lower than 110.26 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.9356 Swiss franc from 0.9318 Swiss francs, and it moved up to 1.2503 Canadian dollars from 1.2393 Canadian dollars.
