NEW YORK – The dollar was practically unchanged against the euro Thursday after the U.S. government said the number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped last week.
The Labor Department said applications for unemployment benefits fell 4,000 to 364,000, the fewest since April 2008. The report suggests that layoffs are starting to slow.
The euro slipped to $1.3043 in late trading Thursday from $1.3044 late Wednesday.
In other trading Thursday, the British pound rose to $1.5678 from $1.5671 from late Wednesday. The dollar rose to 78.17 yen from 78.09 yen and to 0.9364 Swiss franc from 0.9362 Swiss franc.
The dollar fell to 1.0212 Canadian dollar from 1.0280.