By Herbert Lash and Amanda Cooper
       NEW YORK/LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - The dollar fell on
Friday after data showed job gains were less than expected in
June, even as strong wage growth pointed to a  still resilient
labor market that likely ensures the Federal Reserve will resume
hiking interest rates later this month. 
        The U.S. economy added 
    the fewest jobs in 2-1/2 years
     in June, the Labor Department said in an employment report
that also showed 110,000 fewer jobs were created in April and
May than earlier reported.
  
        A jump last month in the number of people working
part-time for economic reasons suggested a weakening labor
market, though the pace of job growth remains strong by
historical norms.
  
    The dollar index fell 0.64% at 102.410, while the
euro was up 0.57% to $1.0948.
    The dollar and other major currencies, with the exception of
Japan's yen, are in a tight trading range as most central banks
are engaged in tightening monetary policy to fight inflation.  
    "The Fed is being hawkish and that prevents the dollar from
depreciating too much. But the ECB is just as hawkish, if not
somewhat more so," said Thierry Wizman, Macquarie's global FX &
currencies strategist in New York.
        "There's a certain horse race going on here and that
creates a certain tension that keeps the euro in that range," he
said.
  
        Strong U.S. economic data on Thursday pushed short-dated
Treasury yields to their highest since 2007, reflecting the view
that the Fed is likely to raise rates by 25 basis points when it
concludes a two-day policy meeting on July 26.
        After the jobs data, futures pointed to an 88.8%
probability that the Fed hikes in three weeks.
  
        Earlier, the Japanese labor ministry reported regular
wages posted their largest annual increase in May since early
1995, reinforcing the view that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will
have to modify its ultra-loose monetary policy sooner rather
than later.
    "The stronger wage negotiations are starting to feed
through, which is what the BOJ wants. They've said very clearly
that if they see evidence of more sustained, stronger wage
growth that could give them more confidence that they can beat
their inflation target and then look obviously to moving away
from loose policy settings," MUFG strategist Lee Hardman said.
        The yen 
    strengthened 1.31%
     at 
    142.20
     per dollar.
    The dollar's decline against the yen this week marked its
biggest weekly fall against the Japanese currency in two months.
    Adding a tailwind to the rally in the yen was some
position-squaring among speculators, who have built up sizeable
bearish positions, MUFG's Hardman said.
    
    YEN BEARS, BEWARE
    Weekly data from the U.S. regulator shows speculators hold a
short position in the yen worth $9.793 billion, the largest
since May 2022, having almost doubled in size in the last three
months alone.
    The yen has held just below the 145 level - which prompted
the BOJ's first intervention in decades last autumn - for about
two weeks and authorities have made clear they are concerned
about the weakness in the currency.
    The Australian dollar rose 0.8% to $0.6681, but it
is still battered by weak Chinese economic data and broad risk
aversion. The offshore yuan fell 0.4% at 7.2257.
   
    Currency bid prices at 10:43 a.m. (1443 GMT)
 Description       RIC         Last       U.S. Close  Pct Change     YTD Pct       High Bid    Low Bid
                                           Previous                   Change                   
                                           Session                                             
 Dollar index                  102.4100   103.0900    -0.65%         -1.044%       +103.1900   +102.4200
 Euro/Dollar                   $1.0947    $1.0892     +0.50%         +2.17%        +$1.0948    +$1.0867
 Dollar/Yen                    142.1850   144.0600    -1.30%         +8.45%        +144.1900   +142.1900
 Euro/Yen                      155.64     156.87      -0.78%         +10.94%       +156.9300   +155.3900
 Dollar/Swiss                  0.8902     0.8954      -0.58%         -3.72%        +0.8969     +0.8902
 Sterling/Dollar               $1.2825    $1.2740     +0.67%         +6.05%        +$1.2827    +$1.2727
 Dollar/Canadian               1.3288     1.3369      -0.60%         -1.92%        +1.3386     +1.3288
 Aussie/Dollar                 $0.6680    $0.6626     +0.82%         -2.00%        +$0.6682    +$0.6620
 Euro/Swiss                    0.9743     0.9749      -0.06%         -1.53%        +0.9760     +0.9737
 Euro/Sterling                 0.8533     0.8547      -0.16%         -3.52%        +0.8554     +0.8526
 NZ Dollar/Dollar              $0.6209    $0.6158     +0.79%         -2.26%        +$0.6210    +$0.6156
 Dollar/Norway                 10.6410    10.7690     -1.11%         +8.51%        +10.7750    +10.6490
 Euro/Norway                   11.6414    11.7212     -0.68%         +10.94%       +11.7360    +11.6514
 Dollar/Sweden                 10.8491    10.9232     -0.26%         +4.23%        +10.9653    +10.8478
 Euro/Sweden                   11.8753    11.9058     -0.26%         +6.51%        +11.9508    +11.8693
 
    
    

    
 (Reporting by Herbert Lash, Additional reporting by Amanda
Cooper in London; Rae Wee in Singapore; Editing by Sam Holmes,
Mark Potter and Barbara Lewis and Marguerita Choy)