U.S. Dollar drops against Yen ahead of U.S. labor data

The U.S. Dollar lost ground versus the Yen in early morning trading in Tokyo today in cautious trading just prior to the release of key jobs data which is expected to portray a more dismal snapshot of the U.S. jobs market than had been originally expected.  The U.S. Dollar touched on a 1-month high versus the Yen yesterday, on U.S. shares which rallied in the hope that the Federal government’s bank rescue plan will include the deferral of an important accounting rule; the suspension of which will likely thaw investors’ risk aversion.  Economic analysts don’t believe that the small increase in risk appetite will be sustained, given the severity of the health in the global economies.

Jobs data to be released today in the U.S. is expected to show that the U.S. economy lost over 500,000 jobs last month.  It is anticipated that non-farm jobs data will show the loss of approximately 525,000 jobs, a small increase from the previous month.   Last month, the unemployment rate in the U.S. was 7.2%; it is expected that it will have risen slightly, to 7.5%, in January.

In early trading today, the U.S. Dollar lost .3% versus the Japanese Yen, trading at 90.85 Yen.  The Euro lost .1% versus the U.S. Dollar, trading at $1.2772.