NEW YORK, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar rose across the board on Friday as the latest non-farm employment report was much better than expected, suggesting that the U.S. Federal Reserve may lift interest rates earlier than expected.

    U.S. non-farm payroll employment fell slightly by 11,000 in November, the Labor Department reported. It was much smaller than a loss from 85,000 to 125,000 previously forecast. The unemployment rate edged down to 10.0 percent from 10.2 percent in October.

    In the prior three months, payroll job losses had averaged 135,000 a month. In November, employment fell in construction, manufacturing, and information, while temporary help services and health care added jobs.

    The much-better-than-expected November employment report suggests that many employers have reached the point where they cannot extract more from a shrinking workforce. To keep output growing, employers now have to add hours and jobs, according to research group Global Insight.

    The report cannot be dismissed as a seasonally-distorted freak. It is mostly genuine good news, Global Insight said. The report shows that a bottom in the labor market is nearer than thought, and it will be no later than the first quarter of 2010.

    U.S. President Barack Obama said the job report is "good news, just in time for the season of hope." But he warned that "we still have a long way to go."

    White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday's unemployment figures are the best released in the last 22 months. "The numbers today show that we continue to make much needed progress in getting this economy going again," he said.

    "There will be bumps along the way, there will be ups and downs in the process," Gibbs added.

    In the previous sessions, the dollar has been under pressures from expectations that the Fed would keep interest rates unchanged at ultra low levels well into 2010. The new job report added to hopes for faster paces of rate hikes.

    The euro bought 1.4827 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.5092 dollars it bought late Thursday. The pound fell to 1.6429 dollars from 1.6566 dollars.

    The dollar rose to 1.0589 Canadian dollars from 1.0536 Canadian dollars, and rose to 1.0188 Swiss francs from 0.9989 Swiss francs. It rose to 90.70 Japanese yen from 88.21 Japanese yen.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis