The euro recovered against the dollar today, Friday, as traders picked up the single European currency following its fall the previous session, when weak U.S. jobs data helped lift the dollar across the board.

Some traders booked profits on the euro’s slide on Thursday, while analysts said currency movements were aggravated due to thin volumes as U.S. markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday.

On Thursday, data showed U.S. employers cut a greater-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, leading to heightened risk aversion on the back of pessimism about the recovery of the U.S. economy.

The bleak data pressured the euro and currencies perceived to be higher risk such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars, but the single European currency found its footing on Friday after selling subsided.

This kept the euro hovering at the $1.40 level, as some market players judged the sell-off in the euro — which knocked it from a

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The latest Bloomberg Euro-Zone Retail Purchasing Managers' Index, which is based on a mid-month survey of economic conditions in the euro area retail sector, fell from 46.2 in September to 44.3 in October, signaling a drop in euro-zone retail sales for the fifth consecutive month and one of the steepest declines recorded since the survey began five years ago.The PMI, which provides data one month ahead of government-issued figures, based on a survey of more than 1,000 retail executives in Germany, France and Italy, showed that retailers cut employment at the fastest rate for four years in the face of falling sales and deteriorating profit margins. Also evident was a further easing of price pressures in the retail sector.Sales fell in Germany, France and Italy as retailers reported the adverse effects of the global financial market turmoil, rising job market insecurity and stretched household ...