1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar rises on upbeat job data

The U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies on Thursday as report showed the number of Americans applying for unemployment aid dropped more than expected last week.

In the week ending Jan. 24, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted initial claims for U.S. jobless benefits was down 43,000 from the revised level of the previous week to 265,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The latest figure was the lowest since April, 2000 and better than analysts' expectation of 300,000 new claims, signaling an improving labor market.

The greenback gained against most its peers following the report. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, was up 0.36 percent at 94.807 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1313 dollars from 1.1309 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.5053 dollars from 1.5156 dollars. The Australian dollar dropped to 0.7756 dollar from 0.7952 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 118.40 Japanese yen, higher than 117.69 yen of the previous session. The greenback went up to 0.9246 Swiss franc from 0.9060 Swiss franc, and climbed to 1.2619 Canadian dollars from 1.2498 Canadian dollars. Endite