NEW YORK: The US dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Thursday, after recent jobless claims data strengthened the case for the Federal Reserve to halt interest rate hikes, but kept a high bar for a year-end cuts.

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week to the highest level since late 2021, suggesting that higher interest rates were starting to weigh on the labor market.

The labor market remains tight, with 1.6 job openings for every unemployed person in March, well above the 1.0-1.2 range that is consistent with a jobs market that is not generating too much inflation.

US producer prices, on the other hand, showed a moderate rise last month, posting the smallest annual increase in producer inflation in more than two years, further evidence that inflation pressures were easing. The producer price index for final demand rose 0.2% last month. In the 12 months through April, the PPI increased 2.3%. That was the smallest year-on-year rise since January 2021 and followed a 2.7% advance in March.

The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against six major peers, was at 101.92, up 0.7%

Sterling, which earlier trimmed declines after the Bank of England raised interest rates for the 12th consecutive time, was down 0.8% at $1.2522.

The euro, which slipped to a three-week low following Chinese data showing more evidence of weakness in its post-COVID recovery, was last seen at $1.0904, down 0.6%.