07:43 AM EST, 03/08/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The US dollar fell against its major trading partners early Friday, except for a small increase versus the euro, before the release of the February employment report at 8:30 am ET.

Nonfarm payrolls are expected to rise by 200,000 in February after a 353,000 gain in January, while the unemployment rate is seen remaining at 3.7% and hourly earnings are forecast to rise by only 0.2% after a 0.6% jump in the previous month.

The only other data scheduled for release on Friday is the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank's weekly update to its gross domestic product Nowcast model sometime around midday.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee Thursday the Federal Open Market Committee would lower rates "carefully" this year if the economy continues to evolve as expected, repeating comments that he made before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

Fed officials enter another 'quiet period' Saturday and will not speak publicly on monetary policy or the economy until after the March 19-20 Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

A quick summary of foreign exchange activity heading into Friday:

EUR-USD fell to 1.0933 from 1.0948 at the Thursday US close but was up from a level of 1.0894 at the same time Thursday morning. The European Central Bank's monetary policy board held interest rates steady Thursday, as expected, and lowered its inflation and growth expectations. The next ECB meeting is scheduled for April 11. Eurozone GDP was flat in Q4 and up only slightly from a year earlier, data released earlier Friday showed.

GBP-USD rose to 1.2829 from 1.2809 at the Thursday US close and 1.2756 at the same time Thursday morning. There are no UK data on Friday's schedule. The next Bank of England meeting is scheduled for March 21.

USD-JPY fell to 147.1790 from 148.0434 at the Thursday US close and 147.7211 at the same time Thursday morning. Japanese household spending declined in January while the Japanese leading index slipped in the same month, data released overnight showed. The next Bank of Japan meeting is set for March 18-19.

USD-CAD fell to 1.3456 from 1.3459 at the Thursday US close and 1.3501 at the same time Thursday morning. Canadian employment data for February are set to be released at 8:30 am ET. The next Bank of Canada monetary policy meeting is scheduled for April 10.