NEW YORK, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar fell against most major currencies Monday amid weak U.S. employment data and comments from a Federal Reserve official.

    Nonfarm payrolls fell 85,000 in December, said the Labor Department on Friday. It has been widely expected that employment would be flat or just slightly lower.

    The dollar fell as the disappointing report reduced expectations that the Fed would lift interest rates earlier than estimated.

    St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said on Monday that the central bank would keep rates low for a long time.

    "Policy rates are near zero in the U.S. and the rest of the G-7countries, something not seen in postwar economic history," Bullard said in a speech in Shanghai. "Interest rates may remain low for quite some time."

    Bullard also said investors should pay attention to Fed's policy on quantitative easing rather than interest rates.

    "Markets are still thinking of monetary policy strictly as changes in interest rates -- even though the Fed has been conducting successful policy this past year through quantitative easing. Markets should be focusing on quantitative monetary policy rather than interest-rate policy," he said.

    No important economic data was released on Monday. Investors are waiting for the trade deficit report due Tuesday.

    The euro bought 1.4519 U.S. dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.4413 dollars it bought late Friday. The pound rose to 1.6099 dollars from 1.6032 dollars.

    The dollar rose to 1.0331 Canadian dollars from 1.0319 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.0158 Swiss francs from 1.0238 Swiss francs. It fell to 92.07 Japanese yen from 92.64 Japanese yen.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis