Economic security

Dollar’s Surge Against Other Currencies Weighs Down United States’ Economy

Ever since the American dollar began to surge against foreign currencies late last year, economists have warned that the repercussions would eventually be felt on the home front.

If there were any doubts about that, they were resolved last week.

With Friday’s Labor Department report showing slower hiring than expected in September, and the weaker data on exports and factory activity released earlier in the week, evidence of the effects of the dollar’s rise on the domestic economy is piling up.

While hardly catastrophic — almost no one expects the American economy to fall into recession anytime soon — the greenback’s strength will exert a significant drag on economic growth in the months ahead and could help push the Federal Reserve to wait until 2016 before raising interest rates.