Dollar strength affects international payments

The US dollar has continued its rise against the pound today (December 7th), following last week's positive jobs data.

On Friday, official figures showed that the unemployment rate in the world's largest economy has dropped from 10.2 to ten per cent.

Sterling was trading 0.66 per cent down on the dollar at $1.636 this morning.

The greenback has also strengthened considerably against the yen and the euro.

As well as affecting international payments, news that the US is seemingly recovering from the credit crunch could boost emigration rates.

The UK has registered six straight quarters of negative economic growth - making the present downturn the longest on record.

Gold - considered a safe haven for risk-averse investors - has also come off all-time highs following the US jobs data.

The precious metal fell by five per cent on Friday.

Matt Zeman at LaSalle Futures Group told the BBC: "The dollar is rocking and gold is getting its teeth kicked in."

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Posted by Richard Planner