NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar fell early Friday after government data showed U.S. employers added the fewest jobs in eight months, eroding some confidence in the U.S. economy and reviving bets the Federal Reserve might leave interest rates near zero for a longer period than earlier anticipated.
The U.S. Labor Department said non-farm payrolls grew by 142,000 last month, far below the 225,000 increase among analysts polled by Reuters. The July figure was upwardly revised to 209,000.
The greenback hit a session low of 104.71 yen after rising to a near six-year high of 105.71 yen on the EBS trading system. It was last down 0.2 percent at 105.05 yen.
The euro strengthened against the dollar, last up 0.14 percent at $1.2961 after hitting a 14-month low of $1.2920 earlier in the session.
(Reporting by Richard Leong Editing by W Simon)