The US dollar advanced against major currencies on Friday after data showed US jobs growth rose solidly and wages rebounded strongly in January, bolstering views that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by mid-year. The US Labour Department said nonfarm payrolls increased by 257,000 last month, beating economists' expectations for a rise of 234,000 jobs according to a Reuters poll, while data for November and December was revised to show a whopping 147,000 more jobs created than previously reported.
The dollar recovered Thursday's losses against the euro and hit its highest level against the safe-haven Japanese yen in three and a half weeks, at 118.995 yen. The greenback also rebounded against the Swiss franc after earlier hitting one-week lows. The euro was last down 1.31 percent against the dollar at $1.13275. The dollar was last up 1.22 percent against the yen at 118.96 yen. The dollar was last up 0.73 percent against the franc at 0.92805 franc. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last up 1.1 percent at 94.589.