* Euro/dlr up 0.1 pct; trade subdued before U.S. jobs data * Yen dips on report saying BOJ to consider easing steps * Merkel meeting with Greek prime minister also awaited (Updates prices, adds quotes) By Jessica Mortimer LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) - The euro edged up against the dollar on Friday in subdued trade as the market awaited key U.S. jobs data, while the yen dipped on a report the Bank of Japan could consider further monetary easing steps. U.S. non-farm payrolls numbers due at 1330 GMT may give clues to the extent of the U.S. recovery, although bad weather could affect the data. The Reuters' consensus estimate is for job losses of 50,000 in February. ECONUS [ID:nN04252324] Analysts expect a stronger-than-expected reading would boost the dollar, while a weaker figure may be dismissed as a distortion after a wave of snowstorms that hit the United States, limiting any negative dollar reaction. "The market is looking for signs of the next wave of cyclical improvement in the U.S. and a good payrolls number could point to that," said Peter Wuyts, market analyst at KBC in Brussels. "But the weather makes the data difficult to predict and I wouldn't be surprised to see the market still in doubt afterwards, which would mean the current consolidation pattern in euro/dollar continuing into next week." At 1048 GMT, the euro EUR= was up 0.1 percent against the dollar at $1.3588 as jitters ahead of the jobs report kept most traders sidelined, while the dollar index .DXY was steady at 80.547. KBC's Wuyts said the euro's consolidation above a 9-1/2-month low of $1.3432 hit earlier this week suggests the market has priced in most of the bad news on Greece for now, keeping it in a range above that low and below $1.3850. Greece on Thursday sold a 10-year bond, one day after announcing measures aimed at cutting its huge fiscal deficit. [ID:nLDE6240LI] Concerns remained, however, about whether Greece's fresh plans to address its debt woes would win wider support in the European Union ahead of a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Greek prime minister on Friday. [ID:nLDE6221KR] YEN DIPS The yen fell after sources said the BOJ was likely to debate this month easing its ultra-loose monetary policy again as it remained under government pressure to help pull Japan out of deflation. [ID:nECONJP] "The BOJ comments should weigh on the yen and we're looking for dollar/yen to target 90.30 yen in the next couple of days," said Carl Hammer, currency strategist at SEB in Stockholm. The euro EURJPY=R rose 0.3 percent to 121.36 yen while the dollar JPY= was up 0.3 percent at 89.31 yen, recovering from a 3-month low of 88.14 yen hit on trading platform EBS the previous day. Traders said the dollar's upside would likely be capped around 89.50 yen, or the lower limit of the cloud on the daily Ichimoku chart, before the U.S. jobs report. Comments from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that China would stick to an appropriately easy monetary stance and a proactive fiscal policy also encouraged investors to buy higher-yielding currencies against the low-yielding yen. [ID:nTOE62308M] (Additional reporting by Satomi Noguchi in Tokyo; Editing by Nigel Stephenson)

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