Dollar retreats on US job data

The U.S. dollar retreated against major currencies Friday after report showed that U.S. non-farm sector added fewer jobs than expected and led the market to speculate the Federal Reserve wouldn't taper its monetary stimulus soon. U.S. employers added 169,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department said on Friday, falling short of the market expectations of increasing 180,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dropped to 7.3 percent, the lowest level since December 2008, as more workers left the labor force. The labor force participation rate fell to 63.2 percent, its lowest since August 1978. On the previous trading day, the dollar reached a seven-week high against the euro and the dollar/yen rate broke the level of 100 after a series of positive U.S. data released on Thursday. The number of Americans who initially applied for unemployment benefits fell by 9,000 to 323,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The U.S. Non-Manufacturing Index registered 58.6 in August from 56 in July, the Institute for Supply Management said. The market began to turn their focus to the Fed's upcoming policy meeting scheduled for Sept. 17-18. In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3181 dollars from 1.3122 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.5634 dollars from 1.5519 dollars. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.9190 dollar from 0.9120 dollar. The dollar bought 99.24 Japanese yen, lower than 100.13 yen of the previous session. The dollar moved down to 0.9378 Swiss franc from 0.9449, and it went down to 1.0399 Canadian dollars from 1. 0503.