Euro jumps to 7-week high against dollar

(AP) The euro rose to a seven-week high against the dollar Thursday, a day after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting appeared to show it was leaning toward more help for the U.S. economy.

The dollar also weakened after the U.S. government said that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week.

The euro rose to $1.2566 late Thursday from $1.2530 late Wednesday. The euro rose as high as $1.2589 earlier, its highest point against the dollar since July 4.

In minutes released Wednesday, many Fed members said that additional aid would be needed soon if the economy doesn't improve. One Fed regional bank president cast doubt on that prospect Thursday, though.

The Labor Department said that the number of people seeking first-time unemployment benefits rose 4,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 372,000.

The British pound slipped to $1.5864 from $1.5869.

The dollar rose to 78.47 Japanese yen from 78.44 yen and to 99.35 Canadian cents from 99.08 Canadian cents.

The dollar fell to 0.9559 Swiss franc from 0.9586 Swiss franc.