GMAN: Peso gains as dollar drops on worse-than-expected US employment data
The peso-to-dollar exchange rate was 45.02:$1 when the trading ended, about 13.5 centavos higher than the previous close of 45.155.
The local currency lost 4.5 centavos Thursday on expectations of improvements in the US labor market that would reinforce expectations that the US Federal reserve will hike interest rates as early as September.
The employment data for June, however, showed that employers hired 223,000 workers or fewer than the expected 230,000 increase, according to Reuters.
While the employment rate fell to 5.3%, the number of people participating in the labor market fell to the lowest since 1977 while average hourly wages barely increased, MetisEtrade Inc. analyst Cherica Vicente said.
