The dollar inched higher after data showing that US jobs growth in November came in roughly as predicted. Non-farm payrolls rose by 215,000 -- the biggest growth since July and just a shade under expectations of 223,000. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, was steady at 5 pct. In addition, payrolls for September and October were revised higher by a total of 13,000. "The data caps a week of generally upbeat US data releases, likely to keep the dollar supported next week amidst an absence of key releases," said Mitul Kotecha at CALYON. The strong jobs data may finally put to rest any lingering fears that the Federal Reserve could be nearing the end of its tightening cycle and will encourage further dollar gains in anticipation of more rate hikes next year, analysts said. The euro also continued to weaken after falling yesterday in the wake of European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet's statement that yesterday's rate hike would not mark the beginning of a series of hikes. Separately, the Swedish krona got a lift after the Riksbank warned of interest rate hikes in the coming months. While the Swedish central bank kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 1.5 pct this morning, the warning came as a surprise. The Riksbank raised its forecasts for growth and inflation and highlighted that rates will not only need to go up, but that they will probably have to go up by more than the market is currently pricing in. "One cannot rule out the possibility that the repo rate will need to be raised more during the winter and spring than market rates imply," it said, citing the Swedish krona exchange rate and the strength of the real economy as a risk to inflation. "This gives us greater confidence in our long-held view that rates will be raised by 50 basis points in Q1 and reach 3 pct by the end of next year. We expect the first 25 basis points to be delivered on 20 January, with an additional 25 basis points on 23 February," said Kevin Daly at Goldman Sachs.