Investing.com - The U.S. dollar trimmed losses against the other major currencies on Thursday, after official data showed the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week surged to the highest level since April 2011.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending November 10 rose by 78,000 to a seasonally adjusted 439,000, compared to expectations for an increase of 14,000 to 375,000.
During European afternoon trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.2% to 1.2761.
In the euro zone, official data released earlier showed that the region’s economy shrank 0.1% in the third quarter, following a contraction of 0.2% in the preceding quarter. A technical recession is defined as two straight quarters of contraction.
Year-on-year, euro zone gross domestic product fell 0.6% compared to a year earlier after contracting at a rate of 0.5% in the previous quarter.
The data came after reports showed that the pace of Germany's economic growth slowed to 0.2% in the third quarter from a 0.3% increase in the previous quarter, while France's economy’s expanded 0.2%, following contraction of 0.1% in the previous quarter.
Data also showed Spain's economy contracted 0.3%, while Italy’s economy shrank 0.2% in the third quarter.
Concerns over the health of triple-AAA Austria and the Netherlands intensified after data showed Austria’s economy shrank 0.1% in the three months to September, while the Dutch economy contracted by an alarming 1.1%. Economists had only expected a decline of 0.2%.
A separate report showed that consumer price inflation in the euro zone held steady at 2.5% in October, unchanged from an initial estimate and in line with expectations.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs held steady at 1.5%, unchanged from a preliminary estimate and matching forecasts.
The greenback was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD inching down 0.03% to 1.5837.
The pound came under pressure after official data showed that retail sales in the U.K. fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in October, compared to expectations for a 0.1% fall.
Retail sales for September were revised down to a 0.5% gain from a previously reported increase of 0.6%.
Elsewhere, the greenback was sharply higher against the yen, with USD/JPY rallying 1.45% to trade at 81.41, but edged lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF slipping 0.16% to 0.9436.
The yen came under broad selling pressure after Shinzo Abe, the head of Japan's main opposition party and frontrunner in next month's election, called for aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan to support growth.
The comments came after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Wednesday he could dissolve the lower house of the parliament on November 16, suggesting that an election will be held next month.
The greenback was mixed to lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD falling 0.18% to 1.0021, AUD/USD sliding 0.6% to 1.0314 and NZD/USD adding 0.1% to 0.8110.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.07% to 81.23.
Also Thursday, data showed that consumer price inflation in the U.S. rose in line with expectations in October, while prices excluding food and energy costs increased more-than-expected.
Separately, the New York Federal Reserve’s index of manufacturing conditions improved unexpectedly in November, but remained in contraction territory for the fourth consecutive month.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release reports on manufacturing activity in New York and Philadelphia, while a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to be closely watched for any indications on the future possible direction of monetary policy.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending November 10 rose by 78,000 to a seasonally adjusted 439,000, compared to expectations for an increase of 14,000 to 375,000.
During European afternoon trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.2% to 1.2761.
In the euro zone, official data released earlier showed that the region’s economy shrank 0.1% in the third quarter, following a contraction of 0.2% in the preceding quarter. A technical recession is defined as two straight quarters of contraction.
Year-on-year, euro zone gross domestic product fell 0.6% compared to a year earlier after contracting at a rate of 0.5% in the previous quarter.
The data came after reports showed that the pace of Germany's economic growth slowed to 0.2% in the third quarter from a 0.3% increase in the previous quarter, while France's economy’s expanded 0.2%, following contraction of 0.1% in the previous quarter.
Data also showed Spain's economy contracted 0.3%, while Italy’s economy shrank 0.2% in the third quarter.
Concerns over the health of triple-AAA Austria and the Netherlands intensified after data showed Austria’s economy shrank 0.1% in the three months to September, while the Dutch economy contracted by an alarming 1.1%. Economists had only expected a decline of 0.2%.
A separate report showed that consumer price inflation in the euro zone held steady at 2.5% in October, unchanged from an initial estimate and in line with expectations.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs held steady at 1.5%, unchanged from a preliminary estimate and matching forecasts.
The greenback was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD inching down 0.03% to 1.5837.
The pound came under pressure after official data showed that retail sales in the U.K. fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in October, compared to expectations for a 0.1% fall.
Retail sales for September were revised down to a 0.5% gain from a previously reported increase of 0.6%.
Elsewhere, the greenback was sharply higher against the yen, with USD/JPY rallying 1.45% to trade at 81.41, but edged lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF slipping 0.16% to 0.9436.
The yen came under broad selling pressure after Shinzo Abe, the head of Japan's main opposition party and frontrunner in next month's election, called for aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan to support growth.
The comments came after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Wednesday he could dissolve the lower house of the parliament on November 16, suggesting that an election will be held next month.
The greenback was mixed to lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD falling 0.18% to 1.0021, AUD/USD sliding 0.6% to 1.0314 and NZD/USD adding 0.1% to 0.8110.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.07% to 81.23.
Also Thursday, data showed that consumer price inflation in the U.S. rose in line with expectations in October, while prices excluding food and energy costs increased more-than-expected.
Separately, the New York Federal Reserve’s index of manufacturing conditions improved unexpectedly in November, but remained in contraction territory for the fourth consecutive month.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release reports on manufacturing activity in New York and Philadelphia, while a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to be closely watched for any indications on the future possible direction of monetary policy.