US Dollar Rises Early Thursday Ahead of September Employment Data

07:53 AM EST, 11/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The US dollar rose against its major trading partners early Thursday, except for a decline versus the pound, ahead of the release of long-delayed September employment data at 8:30 am ET, at the start of a busy day of economic reports and appearances by Federal Reserve officials.

September nonfarm payrolls are expected to rise by 51,000 after an increase of 22,000 in August, while the unemployment rate is forecast to remain at 4.3% and hourly earnings are seen rising by 0.3%.

Weekly jobless claims data and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing reading for November are also due to be released at 8:30 am ET.

Fed Governor Michael Barr is scheduled to speak at 9:30 am ET, followed by the release of existing home sales for October at 10:00 am ET, weekly natural gas stocks inventories at 10:30 am ET and the Kansas City Fed's manufacturing reading for November at 11:00 am ET.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook is due to speak at 11:00 am ET, followed by Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee at 12:40 pm ET and Fed Governor Stephen Miran at 6:15 pm ET.

A quick summary of foreign exchange activity heading into Thursday:

EUR/USD fell to 1.1515 from 1.1527 at the Wednesday US close and 1.1586 at the same time Wednesday morning. Eurozone construction output declined in September, according to data released earlier Thursday. Eurozone consumer confidence data for November are due to be released at 10:00 am ET. The next European Central Bank meeting is scheduled for Dec. 18.

GBP/USD rose to 1.3063 from 1.3050 at the Wednesday US close but was below a level of 1.3128 at the same time Wednesday morning. UK manufacturing orders expectations remained pessimistic in November, according to data released earlier Thursday. Bank of England policy board member Swati Dhingra is due to speak at 1:30 pm ET, followed by BoE policy board member Catherine Mann at 4:00 pm ET and UK consumer confidence data for November at 7:01 pm ET. The next Bank of England meeting is scheduled for Dec. 18.

USD/JPY rose to 157.6534 from 156.9585 at the Wednesday US close and 156.1393 at the same time Wednesday morning. There were no Japanese data released overnight, putting the focus on the Japanese consumer price reading for October to be released at 6:30 pm ET Thursday evening. The next Bank of Japan meeting is scheduled for Dec. 18-19.

USD/CAD rose to 1.4067 from 1.4058 at the Wednesday US close and 1.4004 at the same time Wednesday morning. Canadian industrial product and raw materials price data for October are due to be released at 8:30 am ET. The next Bank of Canada meeting is scheduled for Dec. 10.

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