EUR/USD bulls take a breather around 1.0920 as it awaits the key United States employment numbers during early Friday. In doing so, the Euro pair also bears the burden of the Good Friday holidays in the major Western markets, including Europe.

It’s worth noting, however, that the comparatively more hawkish bias for the European Central Bank (ECB) than the Federal Reserve (Fed) keeps the EUR/USD on the way to posting the third consecutive weekly gain, despite recent recession woes.

EUR/USD cheers upbeat data

EUR/USD remains firmer overall as the latest data from Germany and the Eurozone appear to keep the European Central Bank (ECB) hawks on the table, unlike their US counterparts.

That said, Germany’s Industrial Production (IP) rose 0.6% YoY in February versus -2.7% market forecasts and -1.6% previous readings. The monthly figures also came in firmer than 0.1% expected, to 2.0% versus 3.7% prior. On Wednesday, Germany Factory Orders improved to -5.7% YoY for February from -12.0 revised down prior and -10.5% market forecasts while the MoM growth came in at 4.8% compared to 0.3% expected and 0.5% previous readings.

On a broader front, Eurozone S&P Global Composite PMI eased to 53.7 in March versus 54.1 first readings whereas Services PMI also declined to 55.0 during the stated month from 55.6 preliminary forecasts.

Elsewhere, the US Initial Jobless Claims improved to 228K for the week ended on March 31 versus 200K expected and upwardly revised 246K prior. It’s worth noting that the Challenger Job Cuts for the said month rose to 89.703K from 77.77K prior. Previously, US JOLTS Job Openings dropped to the 19-month low in February while the ADP Employment Change for March also disappointed markets with 145K figures. Further, the US ISM Services PMI for March also amplified pessimism as it dropped to 51.2 versus 54.5 expected and 55.1 prior.