Investing.com - The dollar trimmed losses against the other major currencies on Thursday, after data showed that the U.S. economy grew less than expected in the third quarter, as hopes for a U.S. rate hike before the end of the year continued to support
The dollar was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.16% at 120.89.
The Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 1.5% in the three months to September, missing expectations for growth of 1.6%. The U.S. economy grew 3.9% in the previous quarter.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending October 24 increased by 1,000 to 260,000 from the previous week’s total of 259,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 4,000 to 263,000.
The dollar had strengthened broadly after Wednesday’s Federal Reserve statement said that officials might make a decision to raise interest rates at their December meeting.
The central bank kept rates on hold at its September meeting amid fears that a China-led slowdown in global growth could affect the U.S. economy.
EUR/USD was up 0.19% at 1.0941.
The single currency found some support after data earlier showed that the number of unemployed people in Germany decreased by 5,000 this month, better than expectations for a drop of 4,000.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD at 1.5256 and was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF shedding 0.29% to 0.9914.
Markets shrugged off a report by the Bank of England on Thursday showing that total net lending to individuals increased by ₤4.9 billion last month, above forecasts for ₤4.4 billion and up from ₤4.7 billion in August.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.40% at 0.7089 and with NZD/USD edging down 0.12% to 0.6694.
Earlier Thursday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left its benchmark interest rate on hold at 2.75%, in a widely expected move.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD added 0.16% to trade at 1.3214.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 97.61, close to Wednesday's two-and-a-half month highs of 97.89.