NEW YORK (AP) - The dollar edged up against the pound but slipped versus the euro Friday on a disappointing U.S. jobs report and mixed economic news from around the world, some adding to concerns that a recovery may take time.
The Labor Department said employers cut 263,000 jobs last month, more than the 201,000 cut in August and worse than the 180,000 economists were expecting. The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, in line with forecasts.
Also Friday, a surprise drop in factory orders extended the recent string of disappointing economic readings. The Commerce Department said factory orders fell 0.8 percent in August following a 1.4 percent gain in July. Analysts had been expecting a 0.7 percent increase.
A number of U.S. economic indicators have either weakened or fallen short of expectations this week, a disappointment after several months of hopeful signs on key industries like housing and manufacturing.
The dollar, which has been sold off heavily in recent weeks, benefits on worries about the economy as investors trade their positions in higher-yielding assets for the traditional safe-haven currency.
The 16-nation euro rose to $1.4588 in late New York trading from $1.4537 it bought late Thursday after the head of the labor agency in Germany, Europe's largest economy, said an expected rise in the country's unemployment won't be as steep as originally feared, and the number of people out of work will stay below 5 million next year.
Also in Europe, the number of people seeking unemployment benefits in Spain rose by 80,367 in September, the Labor Ministry said. Jobless claims increased by 1.08 million over the past 12 months for a total of 3.7 million.
Meanwhile, the British pound fell to $1.5919 from $1.5950 after a major mortgage lender said U.K. house prices rose 0.9 percent in September, bringing them broadly into line with year-ago levels. It warned, however, that a tight credit market, rising unemployment and an impending increase in tax may bring an end to the recent series of price increases.
The dollar was slightly lower at 89.63 Japanese yen compared with 89.74 yen on news Japan's jobless rate fell and household spending climbed in August. The unemployment rate unexpectedly declined to 5.5 percent in August after reaching a record 5.7 percent a month earlier, the government said.
Markets will be keeping a close eye on Saturday's meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrial nations to see if they go beyond the normal platitudes about currencies and try to support the dollar.
In other late trading Friday, the dollar slipped to 1.0830 Canadian dollars from 1.0841 late Thursday, and fell to 1.0345 Swiss francs from 1.0413 francs.
