LONDON: The dollar fell against a basket of currencies on Friday as investors focused on whether a jobs report will add to concerns about the US economy and boost bets on more monetary easing. April nonfarm payrolls are due at 1230 GMT, and economists polled by Reuters are looking for relatively modest jobs growth of 145,000, up from 88,000 for March. The US unemployment rate is seen holding steady at 7.6 percent. The index measuring the dollar's performance against six major currencies was down 0.1 percent at 82.151, with most losses coming against the euro. The dollar was steady against the yen at 98.05 yen in fairly subdued trade as Japanese markets are closed on Friday for a public holiday. If the payrolls data adds to recent signs of a softening in the US economy, it could feed speculation the Federal Reserve might boost rather than scale back its bond-buying programme. Such talk would weigh on the dollar in the short run. A better-than-expected number could offer the currency some relief from its recent losses, especially against the yen. "If we have a weak number, expectations will grow for the Fed to act," said Geoffrey Yu, currency strategist at UBS.

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