CANBERA (Alliance News) - The US dollar continued to be lower against its major rivals in European trading on Friday, as the economy created fewer jobs than forecast in May, its slowest in about 6 years, eroding hopes for a Fed rate hike this month. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment edged up by just 38,000 jobs in May compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 158,000 jobs. The job gains in March and April were also downwardly revised to 186,000 and 123,000, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 59,000 jobs. The unemployment rate still fell to 4.7% in May from 5.0% in April, as people left the labor force. The unemployment rate had been expected to dip to 4.9%. Meanwhile, data from the Commerce Department showed that the US trade deficit widened less than expected in April. The report said the trade deficit widened to USD37.4 billion in April from a revised USD35.5 billion in March. The deficit had been expected to widen to USD41.0 billion from the USD40.4 billion originally reported for the previous month. Investors are likely to garner more clues about the Fed's interest rate hike from the Fed Chair Janet Yellen's speech at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia next Monday. The Federal Reserve next meets on June 14-15 to discuss monetary policy, when official debate whether the economy is strong enough to withstand the impact of another rate hike. The currency showed mixed trading against its major rivals in Asian deals. While the greenback rose against the franc and the pound, it held steady against the euro. Against the yen, it declined. Extending early slide, the greenback declined to 107.25 against the yen, its weakest since May 9. The pair ended yesterday's trading at 108.87. The greenback is seen finding support around the 106.00 zone. The greenback depreciated to more than a 2-week low of 0.9786 against the franc, off its early 2-day high of 0.9920. On the downside, 0.95 is likely seen as the next support level for the greenback. The greenback weakened to a 3-day low of 1.4581 versus the pound and more than a 2-week low of 1.3333 against the euro, reversing from its previous 2-day highs of 1.4399 and 1.1114, respectively. Continuation of the greenback's downtrend may see it challenging support around 1.44 against the pound and 1.14 against the euro. The greenback dropped to an 8-day low of 1.2915 versus the loonie, more than 2-week low of 0.7340 versus the aussie and more than a 4-week low of 0.6946 versus the kiwi, from its previous highs of 1.3106, 0.7218 and 0.6801, respectively. The next possible support levels for the greenback are seen around 1.28 against the loonie, 0.74 against the aussie and 0.705 against the kiwi. Looking ahead, US ISM non-manufacturing index for May, durable goods orders and factory orders reports for April are due shortly. At 12:30 pm ET, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard speaks about the economic outlook and monetary policy at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington DC.

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