Dollar trims yen gain, euro loss after jobs data

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) � The dollar trimmed a rise versus the Japanese yen and cut a loss versus the euro Friday after data showed the U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected in January but revisions added a third of a million more jobs in 2012 than previously estimated.

The ICE dollar index DXY , a measure of the greenback�s performance against a basket of six major global units, fell to 79.003, compared with 79.197 in late North American trade Thursday.

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The WSJ dollar index XX:BUXX , which gauges the currency�s performance against a slightly wider basket of rival units, was at 70.65, down from 70.70 on Thursday.

The revised 2012 employment figures are �an encouraging sign for the coming months, especially when you consider the impact that the fiscal cliff will have had on hiring towards the end of the year. Companies will have been very reluctant to hire unless absolutely necessary, with so much uncertainty hovering over the U.S. economy in 2013,� said Craig Erlam, market analyst at Alpari UK in London.

The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls rose 157,000 in January and the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9% from 7.8%. Economists had forecast a rise of 170,000. But revisions showed 335,000 more jobs were created in 2012 than initially reported, with a large chunk coming in the final quarter. See: U.S. adds 157,000 jobs as past data revised higher.

The dollar, which tends to weaken when risk appetite is on the rise, came under pressure in early trade after two separate surveys on the Chinese manufacturing sector showed an improvement in factory-level activity in January from the levels seen in December. Read full story on the Chinese PMI data.

/quotes/zigman/4868099/sampled USDJPY 92.4550, +0.7374, +0.8040% /quotes/zigman/4868097/sampled EURJPY 126.5200, +1.9923, +1.5999% Dollar-yen Vs. eur-yen Four-year price moves

Among the major pairs, the euro EURUSD traded at $1.3604, up from $1.3579 in New York on Thursday but off its earlier high of $1.3675.

The Japanese yen, meanwhile, had dropped against the euro and the dollar, hitting levels it hasn�t seen since the first half of 2010.

The euro EURJPY subsequently trimmed its gain to change hands at �125.15, up from �124.15 late Thursday. The dollar USDJPY retreated back below the �92 level to trade at �91.95, but remained up from Thursday�s level of �91.46.

The British pound GBPUSD , meanwhile, fell to $1.5789 from $1.5857 and the Australian dollar AUDUSD slipped to $1.0410 from $1.0429.