FRANKFURT: The euro climbed to another record high on Friday despite a surprisingly strong gain in the number of jobs in the US. The 13-nation currency rose to $1.4525 in afternoon European trading before falling back to $1.4496, up from the $1.4462 it bought in late New York trading. The new high came after data from the US Labor Department showed that employers boosted payrolls by a surprisingly strong 166,000 in October, the most in five months. The report also showed that the unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent for the second month in a row. It was third time in five days that the euro soared to a new record. The US currency plummeted Wednesday after the Federal Reserve s decision to cut interest rates by a quarter of a point, and has continued to suffer from market jitters about the US economy driven by the subprime market crisis. Markets had been looking to the October jobs data for direction. In addition, the euro has been helped by sentiment that the European Central Bank has yet to finish a gradual campaign of rate increases, while the pound has benefited from expectations that the Bank of England will leave rates untouched rather than follow the Fed in cutting the cost of borrowing. The British pound edged back to $2.0835 from $2.0840 in New York late Thursday. The dollar was up barely against the Japanese currency, buying 114.93 yen compared to 114.92 yen in New York.
