The dollar steamed higher Friday as a government report showed U.S. unemployment falling for the first time in 15 months, surging up alongside equities in an upending of its normal trading pattern. «Finally the U.S. dollar rallies for the right reasons,» said Ashraf Laidi, chief market strategist at CMC Markets. The way the dollar usually trades is counter to stocks. It has tended to benefit in the past year from bad news due to its «safe haven» status. Spooked investors would cut their holdings of equities, foreign currencies and other riskier investments and barrel for the dollar and the U.S. government debt it could buy. The flip side of that meant that, ironically, the dollar has dropped in value throughout the spring and summer as companies release better-than-expected corporate earnings and many economists think the recession, if it hasn't ended already, will be over soon. The 16-nation euro tumbled to $1.4172 in late trading from $1.4340 late Thursday. The British pound dropped to $1.6668 from $1.6776. The dollar also rose to 97.63 Japanese yen from 96.85 yen, peaking at 97.78 yen, the dollar's highest point since mid-June. The Labor Department said on Friday that employers cut 247,000 jobs last month, the smallest amount in a year. The unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent from 9.5 percent in June. Analysts had expected joblessness to grow to 9.6 percent. The unemployment rate hasn't fallen in 15 months.
