Dollar Slumps on Surprise US Job Losses

The US dollar weakened against major currencies such as the yen and euro on Friday after an unexpected decline in July's non-farm payrolls.

A Labour Department report showed that the US economy shed 23,000 jobs in July, defying economists' expectations of a rise of 80,000. The unemployment rate decreased to 4.1%, but the labour-force participation rate fell to its lowest level since nearly five-and-a-half years ago.

The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against other international ones, dropped 0.% to 99.61. The euro gained 0.31% against the dollar to $1.1559. Traders now see a nearly 56% probability that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged in September.