TOKYO, Sept 7 (Reuters) The dollar hovered near a one-month low against a basket of major currencie

TOKYO, Sept 7 (Reuters) The dollar hovered near a one-month low against a basket of major currencies on Friday as investors looked to a U.S. jobs report later in the day for signs that the housing crisis is hurting the broader labour market.

Investors are looking for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points later this month and possibly more from the current 5.25 percent to shelter the economy from the turmoil in credit and money markets.

With the European Central Bank keeping rates steady at 4.0 percent on Thursday but signalling that it may resume tightening, the dollar has come under pressure against the euro as well as the higher-yielding pound. The Bank of England also held rates at 5.75 percent the previous day.

Currency strategists at JPMorgan Chase said the ECB maintained a bias towards raising rates further but acknowledged that risks of slower growth had risen.

"The overall message is that the ECB is on hold for now, certainly in October and likely beyond," they said.

Traders said currency market activity was subdued in Tokyo after a typhoon hit the Japanese capital, prompting some market players to stay home for the day.

The dollar eased from late U.S. trade to 115.30 yen but was seen holding between 115.00 yen and 155.50 yen during Asia trading hours. The euro slipped to 157.84 yen The single European currency was flat at $1.3686 having pushed back towards the all-time high of $1.3853 struck in July.

The dollar's trade-weighted index against six major currencies barely budged at 80.47, having fallen back towards a 15-year low of 79.95 hit a month ago.

Any signs of weakness in the U.S. payrolls report is likely to prompt selling of the dollar, traders say.

In a Reuters poll, economists expect companies to have added 110,000 jobs in August following the 92,000 increase in July.

But reports this week showing tepid hiring -- including the Institute for Supply Management's service sector employment index hitting a nearly five-year low last month -- have stoked expectations for even softer jobs growth.

A slew of U.S. companies have announced layoffs in the mortgage sector in the past few months as the housing market has deteriorated further, with Lehman Brothers and National City announcing 2,150 mortgage job cuts on Thursday.

REUTERS PBB KP0622