Pound Sterling to US Dollar (GBP/USD) Exchange Rate- ‘Greenback’ firms after strong US jobs data

The US Dollar firmed against the Pound and gained against the Euro on Friday following the release of a jobs report but further gains were restrained by disappointing trade balance data.

According to the Washington based Labour Department; US employers added 175,000 new workers to their payrolls in February, more than the 149,000 expected by economists and was better than the 129,000 figure seen in January. Despite the strong figures the nation’s overall unemployment rate ticked up to 6.7%.

The U.S. private sector added 162,000 jobs last month, exceeding expectations for a 154,000 rise. January’s figure was revised up to a 145,000 increase from a previously estimated 142,000 gain.

The figures showed 601,000 Americans weren’t at work because of weather during the survey week, the most since 2010, the agency said. Bad weather can affect the payroll count if employees didn’t receive compensation for the entire pay period that included the 12th of month. The number of hours worked also fell as a result of the inclement weather.

The data showed that the USA’s jobs sector has weathered the recent winter storms well.

Restraining further gains for the US Dollar was the release of data which showed that the country’s trade deficit expanded to $39.1 billion in the first month of the year, up from December’s figure of $38.98 billion. Economists had been forecasting the trade deficit to widen by $39 billion in January.

The Pound found some support early in the session from a report which showed that consumer inflation expectations for the next year in the country fell to 2.8% in the last quarter of 2013, the lowest-level since early 2010.