The dollar fell against most major currencies on Friday after a government report showed U.S. unemployment rate jumped to a 16-year-high in January.
U.S. Nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply by 598,000 jobs in January, the most since the end of 1974, the Labor Department reported on Friday. The unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent from 7.2 percent of the previous month, Xinhua reported.
In January, job losses were large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors, including manufacturing, construction, retail and leisure.
Payroll employment has declined by 3.6 million since the start of the recession in December 2007, the report said. About one- half of this decline occurred in the past three months.
The weak job report underscored the need for Congress to promptly pass a huge economic stimulus plan, said Christina Romer, chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
"If we fail to act, we are likely to lose millions more jobs and the unemployment rate could reach double digits, Romer said.
The euro bought 1.2946 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.2796 dollars it bought late Thursday. The pound rose to 1.4800 dollars from 1.4639 dollars.
The dollar fell to 1.2253 Canadian dollars from 1.2281 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.1625 Swiss francs from 1.1707 Swiss francs. It rose to 92.09 Japanese yen from 91.45 Japanese yen.