The dollar slipped against most major currencies Friday even after the latest snapshot of U.S. employment came in better than expected.

The 12-nation euro bought $1.2836 in afternoon New York trading, up from $1.2806 late Thursday in New York. The British pound rose to $1.9059 from $1.9041.

The dollar lost ground to the Japanese currency, sliding to 117.06 yen from 117.33 yen late Thursday.

The Labor Department reported Friday that employers added 128,000 jobs in August, pulling the unemployment rate down to 4.7 percent in a sign of continuing economic expansion.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management said in a separate report that the manufacturing sector grew at a slower clip in August than in July. The government also said construction spending plunged in July by the largest margin in nearly five years.

Friday's economic reports ended a week of data that the markets were monitoring for clues on Federal Reserve aims for interest rates.

We got through a lot of important data without altering the view that the Fed is at the end of its credit tightening cycle, said Dan Katzive, a currency strategist at UBS AG. It has paved the way for renewed dollar weakness.

The dollar had been boosted by a two-year campaign of rate increases by the Fed, but that came to a halt in August when the Fed paused in its rate-raising regime. Higher rates boost a currency by making securities more attractive to international investors.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank left its key refinancing rate unchanged at 3 percent. However, bank President Jean-Claude Trichet pledged strong vigilance against inflation, wording seen as a signal that a rate increase is a month away.

In other trading, the dollar bought 1.2298 Swiss francs, down from 1.2305 late Thursday, and 1.1049 Canadian dollars, up from 1.1046.