The dollar rose against the euro and the pound on Monday amid risk aversion after an official report declared that the US economy is in a recession.

The US economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) said on Monday. The economy reached a peak in December and has been declining since, according to the business cycle dating committee of the research group.

The US government, academics and the private sector generally defer to the NBER's judgments about recessions. The report sent Wall Street sharply lower on Monday, boosted risk aversion in foreign exchange trading.

Two economic reports released on Monday also added to recession worries. Manufacturing in the US contracted in November at the fastest pace in 26 years, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The US Commerce Department said that construction spending dropped 1.2 percent in October, worse than analysts had expected.

The euro bought US$1.2672 in late New York trading compared with US$1.2708  it bought late Friday. The pound fell to US$1.4910 from US$1.5412.

The dollar fell to 1.2028 Swiss francs from 1.2133 Swiss francs, and fell to 93.40 Japanese yen from 95.65 Japanese yen. It was unchanged at 1.2386 Canadian dollars.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2008)