Dollar Rises on Solid U.S. Jobs Data

By James Ramage 

        The dollar gained against the yen and the euro Friday after the jobs numbers for July showed the U.S. labor market is continuing to strengthen, likely bolstering investors' expectations for higher borrowing costs as early as September.
        The dollar gained against the common currency, as one euro bought $1.0891, from $1.0950 ahead of the numbers. The euro is down 0.3% against the buck for the session. The dollar advanced against the Japanese currency to Yen124.84 from Yen124.61 beforehand, and is now up 0.1% for the day.
        The U.S. added 215,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis last month, from 231,000 in June, a number that was revised up from 223,000, the Labor Department said. Economists had predicted 215,000 jobs would be created in July. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.3%, also matching expectations.
        Hourly earnings, a component of the jobs report that the Federal Reserve has said must increase, ticked 0.2% higher in July. Economists had forecast a 0.2% increase in wages from June.
        Investors bought dollars, viewing the revisions to the June and May reports and the steadily increasing hourly earnings as a sign that a September interest-rate rise definitely remains a possibility, said Chris Gaffney, president at EverBank World Markets. But the numbers likely aren't strong enough to lift the U.S. currency appreciably.
        "It could give the dollar a small boost on the day, but this isn't a number that will drive the dollar higher sustainably in the short term," Mr. Gaffney said. "The dollar will likely trade in a range for a while."
        Investors looked to the July employment report to help assess whether the Fed remains on track to raise short-term interest rates at its September meeting, as some central-banking officials have signaled recently. Higher borrowing costs in the U.S. would attract investors to the dollar, particularly as central banks in Europe and Japan have been easing monetary policy to stimulate their economies.
        Write to James Ramage at james.ramage@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        August 07, 2015 09:11 ET (13:11 GMT)