The U.S. dollar declined against its major opponents in the European session on Friday, as U.S. job growth grew much less than anticipated in December and trade deficit widened in November.

Data from the Labor Department showed that non-farm payroll employment climbed by 148,000 jobs in December after spiking by an upwardly revised 252,000 jobs in November.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 190,000 jobs compared to the addition of 228,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate came in at 4.1 percent in December, unchanged from the two previous months and in line with economist estimates.

Data from the Commerce Department showed that the trade deficit widened to $50.5 billion in November from a revised $48.9 billion in October.

The deficit had been expected to widen to $49.5 billion from the $48.7 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The greenback rose against its major rivals in the Asian session, with the exception of the pound.

Reversing from an early high of 0.9773 against the franc, the greenback eased to 0.9740. If the greenback falls further, 0.96 is possibly seen as its next support level.

Having advanced to an 8-day high of 113.30 against the yen at 8:15 am ET, the greenback reversed direction and pulled back to 113.03. Continuation of the greenback's downtrend may see it challenging support around the 112.00 region.

The latest survey from Nikkei showed that Japan's services sector continued to expand in December, although at a marginally slower rate, with a Services PMI score of 51.1.

That's down from 51.2 in November, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The greenback retreated to 1.2082 against the euro, from a high of 1.2042 hit at 4:45 am ET. The next possible support for the greenback is seen around the 1.23 area.

Flash data from Eurostat showed that Eurozone inflation eased slightly in December on slower growth in energy prices.

Inflation eased marginally to 1.4 percent in December from 1.5 percent in November.

The greenback fell to 2-day low of 1.3582 against the pound, off its early high of 1.3523. The greenback is seen finding support around the 1.37 mark.

Data from the the British Retail Consortium showed that the U.K. shop prices fell 0.6 percent on year in December.

That missed expectations for a flat reading following the 0.1 percent contraction in November.

The greenback slipped to a 2-1/2-month low of 0.7187 against the kiwi and more than a 3-month low of 1.2367 against the loonie, reversing from its previous highs of 0.7145 and 1.2513, respectively. Next key support levels for the greenback are seen around 0.73 against the kiwi and 1.22 against the loonie, respectively.

The greenback fell back to 0.7868 against the aussie, heading to pierce its Asian session's 2-1/2-month low of 0.7870. The greenback is poised to find support around the 0.80 mark.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia logged a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade deficit of A$628 million in November.

That was well shy of forecasts for a surplus of A$550 million following the A$105 million surplus in October.

Looking ahead, the U.S. ISM non-manufacturing survey for December and factory and durable goods orders for November, as well as Canada Ivey PMI for December are due shortly.

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