Peso up over favorable US jobs report for July

AFP PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The peso slightly rose on the first trading day of the week following the release of a better-than-expected report on US job generation for July.

The local currency closed at 41.835 against the US dollar on Monday, up by 1.5 centavos from Friday’s finish of 41.85:$1.

Intraday high hit 41.7:$1, while intraday low settled at 41.85:$1. Volume of trade amounted to $728.92 million from $1.01 billion previously.

The appreciation of the peso, which came with the rise of other Asian currencies against the greenback, came following the announcement that the US economy generated 163,000 new jobs in July, beating most projections.

Traders said the creation of a significant number of jobs in the United States eased concerns that the US economy, a huge export market for many emerging markets like the Philippines, might be faltering.

The job creation in the United States in July translated to an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent, almost unchanged from the 8.2 percent in June, reports said.