NEW YORK (AP) — The euro rose against the dollar for a third day Tuesday as traders felt more comfortable buying riskier currencies.

Traders are also expecting that the European Central Bank will step in to help ease the region's debt crisis.

The euro rose to $1.2410 in late trading Tuesday from $1.2399 late Monday.

Riskier currencies such as the euro tend to rise when investors think economic conditions are getting better.

Last week the U.S. government reported that employers added 163,000 jobs last month, far more than economists had forecast.

Expectations have risen that the ECB will start buying Spanish and Italian government bonds soon. The central bank's president, Mario Draghi, hinted last week that the bank would start doing so.

In other trading, the British pound rose to $1.5640 from $1.5611. The dollar fell to 0.9682 Swiss franc from 0.9692 Swiss franc and to 99.67 Canadian cents from 99.92 Canadian cents.

The dollar rose to 78.65 Japanese yen from 78.22 Japanese yen.