WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar slipped after exhibiting some strength in the Asian session on Thursday, but despite recovering by late morning, struggled to hold gains.
Data from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dipped from an upwardly revised level in the week ended February 6th.
The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 793,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level of 812,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 757,000 from the 779,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Dollar's movements were also impacted by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's recent comments about the central bank's monetary stance.
On Wednesday, Powell said the central bank's accommodative policies still need to stay in place for a considerable time, saying the employment picture is a 'long way' from where it needs to be.
Powell emphasized that he wanted to see inflation at 2% or more before even thinking of tapering the bank's super-easy policies.
The dollar index eased to 90.26 before recovering to 90.47 a little past noon. It was last seen at 90.40, up slightly from previous close of 90.37.
Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to $1.2134
The Pound Sterling was weaker, fetching $1.3818 a unit, down 0.12% from Wednesday's $1.3835.
The Yen weakened to 104.74 a dollar, sliding from 104.60.
The Aussie was stronger with the AUD-USD pair at 0.7754, about 0.4% up from $0.7722.
Against Swiss franc, the dollar was slightly up, fetching CHF 0.8899 a unit. The Loonie was little changed at 1.2701.
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