Investing.com - The dollar held onto gains against the other major currencies in quiet trade on Monday, as it continued to recover from losses posted on Friday following the release of weak U.S. employment data and as investors eyed a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, USD/JPY gained 0.56% to 107.13, off Friday’s one-month low of 106.48. The Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added just 38,000 jobs last month, the smallest increase since September 2010. Economists had forecast that payrolls would increase by 164,000. April’s number was revised down to 123,000 from an earlier estimate of 160,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.7% from 5% in April as more people dropped out of the labor force. The weak data cast doubts over the prospects for a rate hike by the Fed in the coming months and sparked renewed concerns over slowing global growth. Market participants were looking to a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen, scheduled later in the day for further indications on the central bank’s next policy moves. EUR/USD slipped 0.19% to 1.1346, off Friday’s three-week highs of 1.1372. Earlier Monday, data showed that German factory orders fell 2.0% in April, compared to expectations for a 0.5% slip. German factory orders increased by 2.6% in March, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.9% gain. The dollar was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.74% at 1.4411 and was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.16% at 0.9744. The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.12% at 0.7359 and with NZD/USD declining 0.47% to 0.6926. Elsewhere, USD/CAD edged up 0.08% to 1.2925. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.27% at 94.15, still close to Friday’s three-week lows of 93.86.

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