1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar falls on soft jobs data

The U.S. dollar dropped against most major currencies Thursday as the closely-watched jobs data from the country came out weaker than expected.

U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 223,000 in June, missing market consensus of 230,000, and the unemployment rate declined to 5.3 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

In June, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls were unchanged at 24.95 dollars. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2 percent.

In a separate report, the Labor Department announced Thursday that in the week ending June 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 281,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 271,000. The latest reading was higher than market consensus of 270,000.

Analysts said the slightly disappointing jobs data lowered investors' expectation for an interest-rate hike as soon as September this year.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six other peers, was down 0.19 percent at 96.127 in late trading.

Investors also kept an eye on Greek drama. Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faces a mounting backlash at home ahead of Sunday's referendum on the bailout terms. Tsipras vowed a firm "No " in the referendum during his televised address to the nation Wednesday.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1083 dollars from 1.1048 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound slipped to 1.5598 dollars from 1.5602 dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar went down to 0.7622 U.S. dollar from 0.7645 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 123.11 Japanese yen, lower than 123.18 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar dipped to 0.9436 Swiss franc from 0.9486 Swiss franc and dropped to 1.2560 Canadian dollars from 1.2589 Canadian dollars. Endite