U.S. dollar drops amid soft data

The U.S. dollar fell against most other major currencies on Thursday amid weaker-than-expected economic data.

In the week ending Jan. 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims increased 8,000 from the previous week's revised level to 285,000, above market consensus of 280,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

In a separate report, the department said that U.S. nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased at a 3.0-percent annual rate during the fourth quarter of 2015.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.8 percent at 96.528 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1207 dollars from 1.1092 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.4588 dollars from 1.4598 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar inched up to 0.7200 dollar from 0.7178 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 116.75 Japanese yen, lower than 117.72 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar fell to 0.9925 Swiss franc from 1.0052 Swiss francs, and it decreased to 1.3742 Canadian dollars from 1.3794 Canadian dollars. Endit