New York, Oct 5 (IANS) The dollar declined modestly against its major rivals in late trading on Friday as market participants digested the newly-released jobs data.

The unemployment rate declined to 3.5 per cent in September, a 50-year low, the US Department of Labor said on Friday.

The department said total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 136,000 jobs last month, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, fell 0.06 per cent at 98.8042 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro increased to $1.0983 from $1.0974 in the previous session, and the British pound fell to $1.2332 from $1.2353 in the previous session.

The dollar bought 106.85 Japanese yen, lower than 106.89 Japanese yen of the previous session. The dollar fell to 0.9949 Swiss franc from 0.9986 Swiss franc, and it was down to 1.3323 Canadian dollars from 1.3328 Canadian dollars.

--IANS rs