New York, Jul 8 (IANS): The US dollar traded higher against most major currencies as the country's jobs report for June came out much better than expected.

In late New York trading on Friday, the euro fell to $1.1404 from $1.1422, and the British pound decreased to $1.2882 from $1.2971 in the previous session, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar edged up to $0.7601 from $0.7587.

The US dollar bought 114.04 Japanese yen, higher than 113.21 yen of the previous session. The US dollar rose to 0.9643 Swiss franc from 0.9615 Swiss franc, and it edged down to 1.2873 Canadian dollars from 1.2955 Canadian dollars.

US total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 222,000 in June, well above market consensus of 170,000, the Labor Department announced on Friday. The unemployment rate was little changed at 4.4 per cent in June.

In June, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents to $26.25. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 63 cents, or 2.5 per cent.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.22 per cent at 96.008 in late trading.