Investing.com - The dollar strengthened against most major currencies on Friday amid safe-haven demand from investors concerned that while the U.S. may be recovering, the global economy continues to soften.

In U.S. trading on Friday, EUR/USD was down 0.59% at 1.2615.

The single currency continued to come under pressure on concerns the European economy is floundering and may require fresh ECB stimulus measures.

In Europe on Thursday, data revealed that Germany exports fell 5.8% in August, which took its toll on the single currency on Friday.

In France earlier, data revealed industrial production remained unchanged in August, better than expected 0.2% contraction, while Italy's figure expanded 0.3%, missing market calls for a 0.5% expansion

The euro slid on concerns monetary policy remains poised to loosen to steer the continent away from deflationary decline, as ECB President Mario Draghi has said monetary authorities will do what's necessary to kick start the European recovery.

Meanwhile in the U.S., import prices fell 0.5% in September from August, better than market calls for a 0.7% contraction, though still a decline nonetheless, a sign a stronger dollar and a softer global economy could water down inflationary pressures in the U.S.

Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve suggested rate hikes might not come as quickly than markets are expecting, though the dollar firmed anyway due to ongoing expectations for U.S. monetary policy to diverge from those in Europe and Asia.

The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.06% at 107.77, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.46% at 0.9584.

Earlier Friday, the minutes of the Bank of Japan's Sept. 3-4 policy meeting showed that some members voiced concerns over possible adverse effects of additional stimulus measures, which bolstered the yen.

These concerns raised the prospect of the first policy split vote under BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's mandate, even as the central bank head continues to emphasize his readiness to take fresh action to meet the BOJ's 2% inflation target, if needed.

On Tuesday, the BoJ left monetary policy unchanged at its policy meeting, but acknowledged that declining domestic demand as a result of a sales tax increase in April was leading to economic weakness.

Separately, official data on Friday showed that tertiary industry activity slipped 0.1% in August, confounding expectations for a 0.2% rise, after a 0.3% fall in July.

The greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.39% at 1.6054.

The dollar was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.25% at 1.1213, AUD/USD down 0.99% at 0.8696 and NZD/USD down 0.65% at 0.7812.

Statistics Canada reported earlier that the number of employed people rose by 74,1000 in September, blowing past expectations for an increase of 20,000, after a decline of 11,000 the previous month.

The report also showed that Canada's unemployment rate fell to 6.8% last month from 7.0% in August. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in September, and the report strengthened the loonie earlier though profit taking sent the currency back down.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.42% at 86.02.

On Friday, the U.S. is to round up the week with data on import prices.