Dollar Inches Higher After Jobs Report Shock and Trump’s Labor Chief Firing

The U.S. dollar edged up on Monday after suffering sharp losses last week following a weaker-than-expected July jobs report and President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. The dollar had tumbled over 2% against the yen and 1.5% against the euro on Friday, as investors ramped up bets on imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls missed forecasts, with prior months’ figures revised down by 258,000 jobs, signaling a steeper-than-anticipated slowdown in the labor market. Trump accused McEntarfer of “faking” the numbers, while the unexpected resignation of Fed Governor Adriana Kugler gave the president an opportunity to shape the central bank’s direction sooner than expected.

The dollar recovered slightly, rising 0.14% to 147.60 yen but remained nearly 3 yen below Friday’s peak. The euro slipped 0.2% to $1.1560, and sterling eased 0.1% to $1.3263. Against a basket of currencies, the greenback gained 0.2% to 98.86, after dropping more than 1% on Friday.

Treasury yields fell as traders priced in a 95% probability of a Fed rate cut in September, with over 63 basis points of cuts expected by year-end. The two-year yield dropped to a three-month low of 3.6590%, while the 10-year yield hovered near 4.2060%. Analysts at Macquarie now expect the Fed to cut rates by 25 basis points in September.

The Australian dollar slipped 0.17% to $0.6465, and the New Zealand dollar eased 0.24% to $0.5905. The Swiss franc held steady at 0.8041 per dollar, despite Switzerland facing steep new U.S. tariffs that local industry groups warn could cost tens of thousands of jobs.