Dollar under pressure in Asia over US jobless data

The dollar was under pressure against the euro and slightly rebounded against the yen in Asian trade Friday after higher US jobless benefit claims clouded the outlook for the world’s largest economy.

The greenback traded slightly higher at 89.24 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 89.09 yen in New York late Thursday. The euro edged up to 1.3566 dollars from 1.3546 dollars and to 121.08 yen from 120.71 yen.

The dollar remained under pressure after the US Labor Department said new claims for jobless benefits had jumped to a three-month high, raising doubts about the strength of the economic recovery. The seasonally adjusted initial claims in the week ending February 20 rose to 496,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 474,000, the department said.

Dealers also said remarks by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke are weighing on the dollar after he told a House committee that the US economy still needs low interest rate for some time, disappointing some who had expected a more hawkish stand. “The market has kind of reverted to the more uncertain outlook it had last October-December on the US economy and the timing of the Fed’s exit strategy,” Yasuo Nakayama, manager at Shinkin Central Bank, told Dow Jones Newswires.