Richard Driver, analyst for Caxton FX commented:
Today’s US non-farm payrolls figure came in above expectations and represents yet another positive from the world’s biggest economy, it really is going from strength to strength.

With the eurozone heading in to recession and China slowing down, the US economic growth is the only genuine good news story for the market to enjoy at present. Investors are clearly still very suspicious about the Greek situation and risk appetite remains hemmed in.

The US unemployment rate didn’t come down from 8.3% as we were anticipating but the uptrend we are seeing in the US labour market will surely bring it down next month. US government belt tightening is hitting public sector jobs pretty hard but the private sector is more than picking up the slack.

Whilst the pace of growth in the US manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors moderated a little in February, there is plenty of underlying strength there.

The US dollar has rallied on today’s jobs figure, which supports our view that the upward trajectory in US growth will make 2012 a strong year for the greenback. We also see EUR/USD below $1.30 this month.