The 15-nation euro fell to $1.4243 in late New York trading Friday from $1.4331 late Thursday. Earlier, in European trading, the euro touched as low as $1.4914, a level unseen since October 2007. The dollar has gained more than 4 cents against the euro this week, or 3%. That's the biggest weekly gain this year, according to Thomson Reuters (TRI).
The British pound fell to $1.7634 from $1.7690. Earlier, the pound hit a fresh 28-month low of 1.7534.
The Labor Department reported on Friday that the unemployment rate climbed to 6.1% in August from 5.7% in July, with job cuts of 84,000. The rate is now at a five-year high. Consensus estimates had been for payroll losses of about 75,000 and a jobless rate of 5.8%.
Rising unemployment may mean the Federal Reserve will be reluctant to hike interest rates, which can benefit a currency and rein in inflation but slow down the economy.
Track 17 major currenciesOn Thursday, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England left their benchmark interest rates steady, at 4.25% and 5%, respectively.
ECB President Jean Claude Trichet, in his remarks Thursday, revised 2008 and 2009 euro zone GDP growth to somewhat lower than the bank had predicted in June.
"We do not expect prolonged dollar damage from the gloomy (unemployment) report mainly because the recent dollar strength is not a result of improved U.S. fundamentals, but of worsening conditions abroad," wrote Ashraf Laidi, chief FX strategist at CMC Markets US in New York.
The dollar also got a bump from oil's drop Friday. Crude prices for October delivery fell as low as $105.13 before settling at $106.23 a barrel on the NYMEX, its lowest settlement since early April.
In other trading, the dollar rose to 107.13 Japanese yen from 107.04 yen last night. The buck edged up to 1.1168 Swiss francs from 1.1088 francs, and slipped to 1.0643 Canadian dollars from 1.0673.
