By Dennis Fitzgerald Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar was little changed versus the euro and yen before U.S. economic reports on employment and manufacturing. The euro traded at $1.4234 at 8:04 a.m. in New York, compared with $1.4224 yesterday. Japan’s currency was at 133.87 per euro, compared with 133.80. The yen was little changed at 94.06 per dollar, compared with 94.08. The pound dropped 0.3 percent to $1.6484 after the Office for National Statistics said Britain had an 8 billion pound ($13.2 billion) budget deficit in July. Sterling declined yesterday after minutes of this month’s Bank of England meeting showed Governor Mervyn King wanted a bigger asset-purchase program to boost the economy. “The knee-jerk reaction was to sell the pound yesterday after the minutes,” said Toshi Honda, a strategist in London at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. The Bank of England “hasn’t explained enough to the market how quantitative easing is working, and that should punish the pound.” Norway’s krone rose after Statistics Norway said the so- called mainland economy, which excludes oil, gas and shipping, expanded 0.3 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, when it contracted a revised 1.3 percent. The median forecast of 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 0.3 percent contraction, with two analysts forecasting growth. The krone climbed as much as 0.6 percent against the euro and traded at 8.6097, compared with 8.6218 yesterday. Against the dollar, it advanced 0.2 percent to 6.0479, from 6.0622. U.S. Labor Market The U.S. Labor Department will report today that 550,000 workers filed jobless claims last week, compared with 558,000 in the prior week, according to the median forecast of 39 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia will show the region’s manufacturing contracted this month at the slowest pace since September, the last time it expanded, according to the median forecast of 52 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The New York-based Conference Board’s gauge of the U.S. economic outlook for the next three to six months increased 0.7 percent in July after advancing at the same rate in the previous month, another Bloomberg survey showed. For Related News and Information: Top Stories: TOP Top currency stories: TOP FRX Credit crunch page: WWCC

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