NEW YORK, April 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. dollar increased in late trading on Friday, after U.S. jobs report for March showed better-than-expected growth in jobs, signaling strong U.S. labor market that relieved concerns over potential U.S. economic slowdown.
U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 196,000 in March, the Department of Labor reported on Friday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a reading of 175,000.
Notable job gains occurred in health care and in professional and technical services, according to the department. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.8 percent.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.09 percent at 97.3938 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro decreased to 1.1218 dollars from 1.1220 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.3029 dollars from 1.3064 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar was down to 0.7102 dollar from 0.7120 dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 111.70 Japanese yen, higher than 111.59 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was unchanged at close to 0.9999 Swiss franc from 0.9999 Swiss franc, and it increased to 1.3388 Canadian dollars from 1.3355 Canadian dollars. Enditem
