NEW YORK: The dollar rose on Friday after the release of a weaker-than-expected US jobs report, which still showed positive revisions and solid details that suggested the Federal Reserve’s plan to accelerate tapering of its asset purchases and expectations for multiple rate hikes next year remained intact.

The US currency initially fell after the jobs report came out, but ultimately gained as investors pored over the details of the report.

US non-farm payrolls increased by 210,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls would advance by 550,000 jobs. Estimates ranged from as low as a gain of 306,000 jobs to as high as 800,000.

October was revised up to 546,000 from the initial estimate of 531,000, while September was increased to 379,000 from 321,000 for a net 82,000 two-month revision.

The unemployment rate also dropped to 4.2% from 4.6%, the lowest since February 2020. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% versus 0.4%.