The dollar slid on Thursday, pressured by data showing a jump in U.S. continuing jobless claims, but losses were viewed as temporary after two days of gains as the greenback's uptrend remained intact.
Many market participants believed Thursday's jobless numbers would not alter the course of the Federal Reserve's reduction of its asset-buying program.
The Australian dollar, meanwhile, tumbled against the U.S. dollar to its lowest since August 2010 after a surprise fall in Australian employment raised the possibility of another cut in interest rates from the Reserve Bank of Australia.
(Read more: Is the euro headed for an Aussie-style crash?)
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In the United States, continuing claims rose 174,000 to 3.030 million in the week ending Jan. 4, which was the highest weekly figure since a one-week spike up reported last July. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits, however slipped 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 326,000.
"The dollar's fall may reflect bigger-than-expected continuing claims and some could see that as an argument for the labor market being not too strong," said Shahab Jalinoos, currency strategist, at UBS in Stamford, Connecticut.
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"In the long run, however, these numbers would be not so relevant. The intraday ranges we're seeing right now are fairly muted and it comes after an overnight session where the dollar was actually quite strong."
Other data on Thursday showed consumer prices in December recorded their largest increase in six months as gasoline prices rebounded. There was, however, little to suggest a broader pick-up in prices given tame underlying inflation.
