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

The U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies on Thursday as data showed the country's jobless claims last week fell more than expected.

In the week ending March 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits dropped to 282,000, 9, 000 less than the revised level of the previous week, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The latest reading was the lowest in five weeks and below the market consensus of 293,000, echoing an improving U.S. labor market.

Moreover, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said in a speech on Thursday that "Now may be a good time to begin normalizing U.S. monetary policy so that it is set appropriately for an improving economy over the next two years."

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.43 percent at 97.396 in late trading.

However, the U.S. dollar dropped against the Japanese yen Thursday as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East spurred investors' need for safe-haven assets.

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to 1.0872 dollars from 1.0958 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound slipped to 1.4840 dollars from 1.4865 dollars. The Australian dollar went down to 0.7814 dollar from 0.7836 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 119.24 Japanese yen, lower than 119.63 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar edged up to 0.9633 Swiss franc from 0.9616 Swiss franc, and dropped to 1.2478 Canadian dollars from 1.2521 Canadian dollars. Endite