NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The dollar dipped versus major currencies Friday after the government reported a sharp decline in December jobs.
What prices are doing: The dollar dropped 0.3% versus the euro to $1.435 and fell 0.6% against the British pound to $1.603. The greenback edged down 0.6 versus the yen to ¥92.83 after hitting a 4-month high against the Japanese currency on Thursday.
What's driving prices: The government said that 85,000 jobs were lost in December, after 4,000 jobs were added in November.
The December number significantly missed economists' expectations, which were flat ahead of the report, according to a consensus estimate from Briefing.com.
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 10%, as economists predicted.
What analysts are saying: The dollar will remain under pressure Friday because of the dismal jobs number, said Jacob Oubina, a currency strategist at Forex.com.
Oubina said that in 2009, negative economic data was positive for the dollar because investors viewed the currency as a safe haven and were less inclined to choose riskier assets like stocks.
But this has changed going into the new year as worries about the financial recovery ease, he said.
"Now people have more confidence," he said. "They're not thinking about the second coming of the depression, even though financial activity isn't robust."
"In 2010, the dollar is going to exhibit more traditional relationships, where positive data is positive for the dollar and negative data is negative for the dollar," said Oubina.
The next key indication of economic strength that traders await is the Department of Commerce's December retail sales report slated for next week, he said.
