FOREX-Dollar tumbles after soft US payrolls number

NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The dollar tumbled on Friday after a report showed the U.S. economy in December generated 18,000 jobs, the fewest since August 2003, increasing the likelihood the Federal Reserve will cut its benchmark interest rate by a half a percentage point this month.

The euro EUR= jumped against the dollar, trading at $1.4822 from about $1.4725 where it was shortly before the report.

The dollar dropped against the yen, trading at 108.28 yen JPY= from about 109.22 yen shortly prior. (Reporting by Kevin Plumberg; Editing by Tom Hals)