By Deborah Levine
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar came under slight pressure versus major rivals on Thursday after the U.S. Labor Department said jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 17,000 in the latest week to 474,000. The euro traded at $1.4736, compared to $1.4737 late Wednesday in North American trading. The dollar index (DXY 76.02, -0.02, -0.03%) , a measure of the buck against a trade-weighted basket of rival currencies, declined to 75.934 from 75.987 on Wednesday. The dollar bought 88.18 yen from 87.87 yen on Wednesday. The dollar had been mixed before the data amid lingering concerns about downgrades of some country's debt. That was balanced by policy makers in the U.K. and Switzerland keeping their quantitative easing programs at current amounts, strong employment data out of Australia and bullish comments from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
