Dollar Drifts Lower On Weak Economic Data

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar shed ground against its major counterparts on Thursday after data from the Labor Department showed an increase in jobless claims. Investors now look ahead to the crucial monthly non-farm payroll data, due on Friday, for clues on the Federal Reserve's interest rate moves.

Data from the Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 224,000 in the week ended November 30th, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000 from the 213,000 originally reported for the previous week.

A report from the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit shrank to $73.8 billion in October from a revised $83.8 billion in September. Economists had expected the trade deficit to decrease to $75.0 billion from the $84.4 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The narrower trade deficit came as the value of imports tumbled by 4% to $339.6 billion, although the value of exports also slumped by 1.6% to $265.7 billion.

Economists currently expect employment to jump by 200,000 jobs in November after inching up by 12,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate is expected to tick up to 4.2% from 4.1%.

The jobs data could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting later this month.

The dollar index dropped to 105.70 this afternoon, losing nearly 0.6%.

Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 1.0590 from 1.0512 a unit of the common European currency. Against Pound Sterling, the dollar weakened to 1.2756.

The dollar was down against the Japanese currency at 150.10 yen, compared to 150.62 yen on Wednesday. Against the Aussie, the dollar eased to 0.6453.

The Swiss franc firmed to 0.8784 a unit of the greenback, after settling at 0.8844 on Wednesday. The Loonie strengthened to 1.4021 a U.S. dollar, from 1.4074.