PHOTO
An employee of the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) counts U.S. 100-dollar bills at the bank's headquarters in Seoul October 13, 2008. South Korea's bruised currency perked up on Monday on nervous hopes the global financial turmoil might calm down, with the government saying its economy can weather the storm. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won (SOUTH KOREA) - RTX9HP5
WASHINGTON/LONDON - The U.S. dollar mostly held steady in choppy trading after May's non-farm payrolls report on Friday showed employment surged but unemployment also rose.
The report showed that payrolls in the public and private sector increased by 339,000 in May, surging past expectations. Economists polled by Reuters expected non-farm payrolls to have increased by 190,000 in May, from April's 253,000 rise.
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six others, was last up 0.203% at 103.730.
Before the U.S. Labor Department released the data, the dollar was headed for its largest weekly fall since mid-January on Friday as the view took hold among investors that the Federal Reserve will forgo an interest rate hike this month, which would diminish the greenback's appeal to non-U.S. buyers.
Money markets are pricing in a roughly 29% chance of a June hike, down from near 70% earlier in the week.
The euro was unchanged at $1.0762, hovering near its highest in around a week, thanks to a boost on Thursday from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, who said further policy tightening was necessary.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington and Amanda Cooper in London; Additional reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe in London and Kevin Buckland in Tokyo Editing by Mark Heinrich, Mark Potter, Andrew Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)