The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) closed Friday at 102.28 after October hiring surpassed market estimates, with the index rising above 102 before the U.S. jobs report and ending higher after its release.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said U.S. employers added 165,000 nonfarm jobs in October, and unemployment was 4.1%. Reuters and FXStreet cited estimates of 65,000 jobs, while USA Today reported a mean forecast of 59,000. The reported employment gain exceeded both estimates.
The BLS release combines two surveys: a household survey that measures labor-force status and an employer survey that tracks payrolls, hours and earnings. The unemployment rate comes from the household survey, while the job count comes from the employer survey.
Yahoo Finance's historical table, which identifies ICE Futures as its data source, put Friday's high at 102.36 and the close at 102.28, a 0.72% rise from the previous close. In a pre-release update at 7:51 a.m. ET, FXStreet reported that the index was up 0.4% at a weekly high just above 102.00.
The readings reflect different points in the session. The FXStreet update preceded the BLS release at 8:30 a.m. ET; a Reuters report published at 2:43 p.m. ET quoted DXY at 102.26, up 0.77%, an intraday reading rather than the daily close.
Professional and business services employment increased by 70,000, the BLS reported, with gains also in health care and transportation and warehousing. The agency revised August's gain to 186,000 from 133,000 and September's to 60,000 from 29,000, raising the two-month total by 84,000.
Reuters reported that the strong payroll result strengthened market expectations for a Federal Reserve rate increase in December. Before the release, FXStreet linked some of the dollar's advance to defensive positioning amid technology-led equity losses.
The BLS scheduled its November employment report for Dec. 4 at 8:30 a.m. ET.
