JOHANNESBURG- South Africa’s rand fell 2.2 percent to a fresh three-year low against the dollar on Friday after below-consensus U.S. jobs data pointed to a slowdown in the world’s largest economy.

The rand briefly touched 8.71 to the dollar, its weakest since May 2009, before coming back slightly to 8.6670 by 1236 GMT.

Analysts say the currency may fall as far as 8.80 in the short term.