The U.S. dollar was seen starting the first trading week of the year on a soft note.

The greenback posted declines extending from the last week of December.

This came despite the economic data coming out relatively stronger. The ISM manufacturing index strengthened, but at the same time non-manufacturing PMI was soft.

Jobs data released this week showed a balanced report with the U.S. unemployment rate staying steady at 4.1% while average hourly earnings rose 2.5% on the year.

U.S. Unemployment rate steady at 4.1%

The monthly unemployment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the U.S. unemployment held steady at 4.1% in December.

This was the third consecutive month that the unemployment rate was unchanged as it remained at historical lows.

The U.S. economy was seen adding 148k jobs during the month of December.

Wage growth, which continues to remain a major concern showed little signs of growth.

The average hourly earnings rose 2.5% on the year and 0.3% on a month over month basis which was in line with estimates.

Data from the BLS indicated that the U.S. economy continued to hold steady in the last month of the year.

The U.S. dollar did not react much to the news as the payrolls report was seen to be fairly balanced.

Officials remain hopeful that the tightening labor market conditions alongside the tax cuts could help boost consumer spending and thus push consumer prices higher.