NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar pared gains Thursday versus major rivals after the Labor Department said 545,0000 Americans filed initial claims for jobless benefits in the latest week, down 12,000. A separate report said housing starts increased to a 598,000 annualized pace in August. The dollar index (DXY 76.30, +0.07, +0.09%) , a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of major currencies, traded at 76.327, up from 76.194 late Wednesday. The index slipped to 76.01, its lowest level in a year, in early trade. Analysts polled by MarketWatch expected initial claims to rise to 563,000 and housing starts to rise to a 600,000 rate.
