At around 9:00 p.m. the euro gained 0.06% against the greenback at 1.0840 dollars.
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The euro rose slightly against the dollar Friday in a hesitant market after the publication of a report showing that the pandemic had destroyed more than 20 million jobs in the United States.
Around 7:00 p.m. GMT (9:00 p.m. in Paris), the euro gained 0.06% against the greenback, at 1.0840 dollars.
The US Department of Labor announced on Friday that the economy has never destroyed so many jobs in such a short time.
The unemployment rate, which stood at 3.5% in February, jumped to 14.7% in April, its highest level since June 1940.
These staggering figures, however, are less serious than expected, since analysts expected 16 to 20% unemployment, and 28 million jobs lost.
But “analysts and investors alike are not very comfortable with this kind of historic moment, with these devastating figures which, even if they are not as bad as expected, represent a shock”, underlines a note from Tempus .
The euro, just after the release of the monthly report, first fell back before recovering sharply and then losing ground.
The single currency also continued to be supported by statements by the president of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde affirming her opposition to a German court decision.
In a resounding judgment, the German Constitutional Court issued an ultimatum to the ECB asking it to justify within three months the merits of its public debt buyouts carried out since 2015, believing that they had harmful effects on whole sectors of the economy, especially savers penalized by very low interest rates.
Lagarde warned Thursday that the institution she chairs “will continue, without being discouraged” to “do whatever it takes to fulfill its mandate” of price stability in the eurozone.
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