Investing.com - The dollar rallied to one-week highs against the other major currencies on Friday, boosted by the release of better-than-expected employment data in the U.S.
The U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 209,000 jobs last month, blowing past expectations for an increase of 183,000.
The U.S. economy added 231,000 jobs in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 222,000 rise.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3% in July from 4.4% the previous month, in line with expectations.
The report also showed that average hourly earnings increased by 0.3% last month, in line with forecasts and after a 0.2% gain in June.
The dollar had weakened earlier in the day, following reports Special Counsel Robert Mueller issued grand jury subpoenas amid an ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
According to Reuters, the subpoenas issued were in connection to a June 2016 meeting which involved Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and a Russian lawyer.
The greenback has been under heavy pressure recently amid worries over political turmoil in Washington and recent lackluster economic reports, which have raised doubts over whether the Federal Reserve will raise rates again this year.
EUR/USD lost 0.97% to 1.1754, the lowest since Monday.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD declined 0.69% to 1.3047. The pound was also still vulnerable after the Bank of England left interest rates on hold at record lows and cut its economic growth forecast for this year and next.
USD/JPY climbed 0.77% to 110.88, while USD/CHF advanced 0.53% to trade at 0.9737.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars turned lower, with AUD/USD down 0.57% at 0.79054 and with NZD/USD retreating 0.40% to 0.7404.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD gained 0.53% to trade at 1.2646, the highest since July 18, after Statistics Canada said the number of employed people increased by 10,900 in July, surpassing expectations for a rise of 10,000 and after a 45,300 climb the previous month.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.3% last month from 6.5% in June, confounding expectations for an unchanged reading.
However, on a less positive note, Statistics Canada said the trade deficit widened to C$3.60 billion in June from a revised C$1.36 billion in May. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to hit C$1.35 billion in June.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.84% at a one-week high of 93.48, pulling further away from Wednesday’s 15-month trough of 92.39.