Investing.com - The euro fell to one week lows against the broadly stronger dollar on Thursday after official data showed that the U.S. economy added far more jobs than forecast in June and the European Central Bank reiterated that rates would remain on hold for an extended period.
EUR/USD was down 0.39% to 1.3605 from around 1.3652 ahead of the jobs data.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3550 and resistance at 1.3663, the session high.
The dollar strengthened across the board after the Labor Department reported that that U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs last month, easily surpassing expectations for an increase of 212,000.
The previous month’s figure was revised up to a gain of 224,000 from a previously reported increase of 217,000.
The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 6.1% from 6.3% in May, the lowest in almost six years.
The data was released one day earlier than usual due to the July 4 U.S. Independence Day holiday on Friday.
At the same time, ECB President Mario Draghi reiterated the bank’s forward guidance that rates will remain on hold at present or lower levels for an extended period.
He emphasized that "the governing council is also unanimous in its commitment to use unconventional instruments' if necessary, to address the risk of too-prolonged period of low inflation.”
The ECB left all rates on hold earlier Thursday, in a widely anticipated decision, after cutting rates to record lows in June.
Draghi said unemployment rate in the euro zone is still too high and warned that risks to the economy remain to the downside.
The ECB president also announced that it will shift to a six-week meeting cycle from January 2015 and that it will start publishing meeting minutes.
The euro was almost unchanged against the yen, with EUR/JPY at 138.97.
Elsewhere, the dollar advanced to two-week highs against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.41% to 102.18, from around 101.86 before the employment report.