The US Dollar Exchange Rate was trading in the region of 0.6405 against the Pound as of 16:30 pm GMT
Despite disappointing US data the ‘Greenback’ has advanced on some of its most traded rivals as a result of global economic developments.
The US Dollar achieved a six-month high against a broadly weakening British Pound as investors up bets that tomorrow’s Bank of England inflation announcement will result in growth forecasts for the UK being slashed.
‘Greenback’ gains were also recorded against the ‘Loonie’ as the Canadian currency fell following G-7’s announcement regarding exchange rates. Earlier today the Group of Seven released a statement saying that its members wouldn’t aim to weaken their own currencies to boost their nation’s economic strength: ‘we reaffirm that our fiscal and monetary policies have been and will remain oriented towards meeting our respective domestic objective using domestic instruments, and that we will not target exchange rates.’ The commodity-driven Canadian Dollar slid against the majority of its rivals as a result.
After a day dogged by volatility the Yen experienced an upward surge against the US Dollar as well as the Euro. The Asian currency’s impressive gains were triggered by an official of the Group of Seven, who stated that previous comments concerning exchange rates had been misinterpreted and that G-7 was actually concerned about the excessive fluctuations in the Japanese Yen.
Although tomorrow sees the release of advance US retail sales for January, a key economic indicator, the focus of today’s data was employment.
Despite the fact that the US labour market has shown impressive resilience in recent months the latest data indicates that further progress in this sector could take some time.
Recently the jobless rate eased up to 7.9 per cent, not half as bad as the shocking 25 per cent level seen in nations like Spain but still reasonably high for the world’s largest economy.
Now figures compiled by the Labour Department have shown that this number could continue to crawl upwards, as whilst firing and hiring slowed in December the number of US job openings plummeted from November’s above four-year high to 3.62 million.
This loss of 173,000 positions has taken the level of job openings to the lowest seen since last September.
A lack of work opportunities is likely to take a negative toll on the jobless rate, something which won’t go over too well with Federal Reserve policy makers. Government spending cuts and a potential slowdown in consumer spending could also prevent the labour market from moving forwards.
As one industry expert commented: ‘The labour market is improving, but certainly not at a robust rate. We’re still going to see that relatively modest pace of advancement in the first part of 2012 as businesses wait to see how the adjustments with payroll taxes and spending cuts affect the economy’.
Today’s report also revealed that the number of workers hired in the last month of 2012 slid from 4.4 million to 4.19, slashing the hiring rate by 0.2 and taking it to 3.1 per cent.
Although construction posted an increase in the number of job openings in December, professional and business services recorded a decline, as did four more of the seven major industry categories.
Janet Yellen, vice Chairman of the Fed, made a speech in Washington yesterday in which she said: ‘With employment so far from its maximum level and with inflation currently running, and expected to continue to run, at or below the Committee’s 2 per cent longer-term objective, it is entirely appropriate for progress in attaining maximum employment to take centre stage in determining the committee’s policy stance.’
Yellen went on to assert that in her opinion high unemployment is due to a lack of demand rather than a deficiency or lack of compatibility in workers skill sets.
Current US Dollar Exchange Rates
The US Dollar to Euro exchange rate is currently trading at 0.7480
The US Dollar to Pound Sterling exchange rate is currently trading at 0.6405
The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.0029
The US Dollar to Australian Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 0.9697
The US Dollar to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.1967
The US Dollar to Emirati Dirham exchange rate is currently trading at 3.6729
The US Dollar to Swiss Franc is currently trading at 0.9154
The US Dollar to Japanese Yen exchange rate is currently trading at 93.2400
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