Credit: Investing.com - " The dollar fell to 23-month lows against the euro on Tuesday and was lower against the other major currencies after data showed that the U.S. economy added fewer than expected jobs in September, adding to the view that the Federal Reserve will delay plans to start tapering stimulus.
During European afternoon trade, the dollar fell to the lowest level since November 2011 against the euro, with EUR/USD advancing 0.41% to 1.3735.
The Department of Labor said the U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September, well below expectations for an increase of 180,000.
The previous month's figure was revised up to a gain of 193,000 from a previously reported increase of 169,000.
The unemployment rate ticked down to a four-and-a-half year low of 7.2% from 7.3% in August, but this was partially due to more people dropping out of the labor force.
The jobs report was released 18 days behind schedule due to disruption caused by the recent U.S. government shutdown.
The dollar dropped sharply against the other main currencies late last week as concerns over the impact of the 16-day shutdown on the U.S. economic recovery fuelled expectations that the Fed would delay plans for rolling back its asset purchase program until at least the beginning of next year.
Elsewhere, the dollar fell to session lows against the yen, with USD/JPY sliding 0.10% to 98.08.
The dollar was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.21% to 1.6181.
The pound had little reaction after data released on Tuesday showed that the U.K. public sector deficit narrowed to GBP11.1 billion in September from GBP12.1 billion in September 2012.
The dollar fell to 20-month lows against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.35% to 0.8988.
The greenback was broadly weaker against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD climbing 0.39% to 0.9692, NZD/USD up 0.50% to 0.8485 and USD/CAD dipping 0.03% to 1.0300.
In Canada, official data on Tuesday showed that retail sales rose 0.2% in August, slightly below forecasts for a 0.3% gain. Core retail sales rose 0.4%, better than expectations for a 0.2% increase.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.21% to 79.58.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
