The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.29 percent at 97.8545 in late trading.
U.S. initial claims, or the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits fell sharply by 16,000 to 212,000 in the week ending May 11, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday, which marks a fairly low level in recent years.
Privately-owned housing starts, or construction on new houses, picked up at an annual rate of 1,235,000 in April, a 5.7 percent increase from the revised March estimate of 1,168,000, said the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday.
In late New York trading, the euro was down to 1.1171 dollars from 1.1203 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.2791 dollars from 1.2843 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar was down to 0.6893 dollar from 0.6927 dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 109.84 Japanese yen, higher than 109.55 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 1.0101 Swiss franc from 1.0092 Swiss franc, and it increased to 1.3462 Canadian dollars from 1.3438 Canadian dollars. Enditem
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