(New throughout, updates prices, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)
* Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK, March 5 (Reuters) - The dollar jumped on Friday after data showed jobs growth beat expectations in February, backing up the view of Federal Reserve officials who have said that a recent rise in U.S. government bond yields is justified by an improving economic outlook.
The jobs improvement came amid falling new COVID-19 cases, quickening vaccination rates and additional pandemic relief money from the government, putting the labor market recovery back on firmer footing and on course for further gains in the months ahead.
Nonfarm payrolls surged by 379,000 jobs last month, after rising 166,000 in January. In December, payrolls fell for the first time in eight months. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast February payrolls increasing by 182,000 jobs. is a rather impressive nonfarm payroll report," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York. "There's momentum in the labor market and what that's doing is providing I think more optimism that the growth picture is looking even better."
A rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and impending U.S. fiscal stimulus have boosted confidence in an economic recovery, adding fuel to expectations of higher inflation.
The dollar index =USD jumped as high as 92.201, the highest since Nov. 25, before retracing back to 91.906, still up 0.30% on the day. The euro EUR=EBS fell as low as $1.1892, the lowest since Nov. 26, before bouncing back to $1.1924, down 0.40% on the day.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields US10YT=RR hit a one-year high of 1.625%, and were last at 1.599%.
The jobs data comes after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday disappointed investors who were expecting him to express concerns about rising bond yields.
Powell stuck to his stance of keeping interest rates low until the economy has recovered, adding that the sell-off in Treasuries was not "disorderly". U.S. dollar rose sharply higher post-Powell comments (as) many in the market I sense were looking for stronger rhetoric from the Fed to put a break on further rallies in yields," said Neil Jones, head of FX sales at Mizuho Bank.
The Swiss franc and Japanese yen continued to weaken against the greenback on Friday on expectations that global growth will lag that of the United States.
The Swiss franc CHF=EBS fell to a seven-month low of 0.9310 francs per dollar, before rebounding to 0.9283.
The yen JPY=D3 plumbed a nine-month low of 108.63 yen per dollar, before bouncing back to 108.37.
Risky currencies including the Australian dollar also weakened against the greenback. The Aussie AUD=D3 was last down 0.37% at $0.7692. It has dropped from a three-year high of $0.8007 last week.
Sterling GBP=D3 briefly fell below $1.38 to a three-week low. It was last down 0.44% at $1.3835.
In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin BTC=BTSP fell 0.43% to $48,150. Ethereum ETH=BTSP dropped 2.97% to $1,492.03.
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Currency bid prices at 9:47AM (1447 GMT) Description
RIC
Last
U.S. Close Pct Change
YTD Pct
High Bid
Low Bid
Previous
Change
Session
Dollar index
=USD
91.9060
91.6420
+0.30%
2.139%
+92.2010
+91.6210 Euro/Dollar
EUR=EBS
$1.1924
$1.1973
-0.40%
-2.40%
+$1.1977
+$1.1893 Dollar/Yen
JPY=D3
108.3650
107.9400
+0.31%
+4.83%
+108.6400 +107.8250 Euro/Yen
EURJPY=
129.22
129.25
-0.02%
+1.81%
+129.5700 +128.9000 Dollar/Swiss
CHF=EBS
0.9283
0.9288
-0.05%
+4.93%
+0.9311
+0.9258 Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3
$1.3835
$1.3897
-0.44%
+1.27%
+$1.3906
+$1.3779 Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3
1.2657
1.2667
-0.07%
-0.60%
+1.2736
+1.2647 Aussie/Dollar
AUD=D3
$0.7692
$0.7721
-0.37%
-0.01%
+$0.7727
+$0.7624 Euro/Swiss
EURCHF=
1.1067
1.1119
-0.47%
+2.41%
+1.1125
+1.1056 Euro/Sterling
EURGBP=
0.8616
0.8612
+0.05%
-3.59%
+0.8651
+0.8603 NZ
NZD=D3
$0.7158
$0.7186
-0.40%
-0.33%
+$0.7193
+$0.7100 Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway
NOK=D3
8.5305
8.5795
-0.41%
-0.50%
+8.6290
+8.5095 Euro/Norway
EURNOK=
10.1695
10.2706
-0.98%
-2.84%
+10.3076
+10.1630 Dollar/Sweden
8.5341
8.4909
+0.08%
+4.12%
+8.5668
+8.4834 Euro/Sweden
EURSEK=
10.1766
10.1683
+0.08%
+0.99%
+10.1995
+10.1616
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https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
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