Palladium rises 1% as dollar backs off six-week high

Palladium prices rose nearly one percent in American trade as the dollar index backed off August 20 highs, following earlier labor data from the US today. 

As of 01:40 GMT, palladium rose 0.69% to $1,064.28 an ounce, while the dollar index shed 0.16% to 95.60 away from six-week highs. 

Earlier US data showed the unemployment rate fell to 3.7% near 49 year lows from 3.9%, while averages wages rose 0.3% as expected. 

The economy created 134 thousand new jobs last month, down from 270 thousand in August, and below estimates of 185K, as the trade deficit widened to $53.2 billion from $50.0 billion, barely below estimates of $53.4 billion.