By Nick Godt
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar dipped early on Thursday, after the U.S. government said claims for unemployment benefits fell 20,000 in the latest week to 512,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected claims to edge down to 520,000. The dollar index (DXY 75.71, +0.06, +0.08%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major counterparts, stood at 75.609, down from 75.682 in late North American trade Wednesday. Separately, the Labor Department said U.S. companies increased their output in the third quarter even as they slashed working hours, driving productivity up at a 9.5% annual rate in the quarter. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected productivity to rise to 7.3%.
