VINACHEM

The dollar fell against the euro and yen on concern the U.S. jobless rate will remain at a level that deters the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates.

The greenback dropped against 15 of its 16 major counterparts as economists predicted figures this week will show U.S. unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent. The Australian dollar rose, ending two days of losses, ahead of government data tomorrow projected to show the nation added jobs.

“We’re likely to see the dollar weak until we get the Fed indicating it needs to tighten,” said Joseph Capurso, a currency strategist in Sydney at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s biggest lender. “The fundamentals of interest-rate differentials remain crucial to currency directions.”

The dollar fell to $1.4453 per euro as of 11:33 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.4429 in New York yesterday. The greenback dropped to 80.85 yen from 81.07. The euro was at 116.86 yen from 116.97.

IntercontinentalExchange Inc.’s Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners, fell 0.2 percent to 74.512.

U.S. employers added 100,000 jobs in June after an increase of 54,000 in the previous month, while the jobless rate was unchanged, according to the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg New survey before the Labor Department’s July 8 report.

The number of people employed in Australia rose by 15,000 in June, the statistics bureau will say tomorrow according to the median economist estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Australia’s dollar rose to $1.0721 from $1.0693. The currency fetched 86.69 yen.