U.S. dollar declines after economic data

NEW YORK, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar slipped against other major currencies on Thursday as investors were digesting the latest economic data from the country.

On the economic front, in the week ending Dec. 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 245,000, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised level, said the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 237,750, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 236,000.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Thursday that the international trade deficit stands at 69.7 billion U.S. dollars in November, which was slightly up from the 68.1 billion dollars' deficit in October.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.45 percent at 92.607 in late trading on Thursday.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1953 U.S. dollars from 1.1897 U.S. dollars, and the British pound climbed to 1.3443 U.S. dollars from 1.3399 U.S. dollars. The Australian dollar increased to 0.7793 U.S. dollar from 0.7775 U.S. dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 112.87 Japanese yen, lower than 113.25 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar fell to 0.9781 Swiss franc from 0.9867 Swiss franc, and it edged down to 1.2582 Canadian dollars from 1.2643 Canadian dollars. Enditem