It was a good week for the U.S. dollar and a not-so-good week for the euro and yen, which both tumbled as the U.S. Federal Reserve eyes raising interest rates with signs of a strengthening economy.

The euro dropped to its lowest value against the dollar in four and a half years following news that the European Central Bank would conduct large-scale government bond purchases, known as “quantitative easing, in a move to boost the slumping European economy, according to a Bloomberg report.

The currency, which is shared by 19 European nations, dropped for its third straight week after the ECB president indicated that deflation could be in the offing.

The yen also moved downward for the third straight week, as did the ruble, which saw a 9.4 percent decline.

The dollar, meanwhile, continued its rise as the outlook improved on the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve inched ever closer to raising interest rates to keep a lid on excessive inflation. The interest rate has hovered near zero for years after the 2008 economic crash led to a recession that the economy only just now appears to be pulling out of.

Strong U.S. labor market numbers are the primary reason for the improved outlook, with unemployment falling to six-and-a-half-year lows. It’s a different picture in Europe, where high unemployment rates persist, resulting in two different monetary policies for Europe and the United States.

The euro has declined 1.5 percent over the past week, and is now valued at $1.2002 U.S. dollars. Japan, meanwhile, has seen the yen fall to ￥120.28 per dollar.

Bloomberg’s Dollar Spot Index, which compares the U.S. dollar against 10 peers, rose 0.9 percent to 1,141.02, and has added 11 percent over the course of year, the biggest gain in a decade.

The dollar outperformed all 31 of its significant counterparts in 2014, the first time it has done that in 25 years of data.

However, the other currencies are not expected to stay down for long, with analysts expecting half of them to post gains against the dollar, especially Russia’s ruble, once oil prices begin to recover and unemployment numbers start to dip.