US employment numbers rose to a 10-month high in December, with the economy adding 312,000 jobs, wages up by 0.4% on monthly basis in December and 3.2% on yearly basis. In 2018, the economy added 2.6 million jobs compared to 2017 which added 2.2 million jobs, while unemployment rose to 3.9% in December.
The dollar rose against a basket of currencies following the data from a two-day low of 96.11 to currently trade at 96.48. It also rose against the Japanese yen after falling after a holiday flash crash from its lowest level since March 26 at 104.70 levels and currently trading at 108.35.
Trump is now preparing to meet with congressional leaders to talk about the wall he wants to build, and also because of the partial closure of the government, which has entered its second week.
The yen's decline came after China announced new measures to boost its economy and raised hopes that China and the United States would make any progress in their talks, yet the yen remains trading near a 9-month high.
The Canadian dollar also rose after Canadian employment data, with 9.3K jobs added in December better than forecast; unemployment fell to 5.6%, USDCAD slipped to an 11-day low of 1.3421.
