By Nick Godt
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar remained lower against major counterparts on Thursday after the government said first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by 6,000 to 472,000 in the week ended Aug. 28. The dollar index (DXY 82.44, -0.08, -0.10%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, stood at 82.31, down from 82.51 late Wednesday. The euro rose 0.3% to $1.2837 after a successful auction of government debt in Spain and as the European Central Bank held its benchmark interest rate unchanged. In addition, Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, revised up its estimate for the euro zone's economic growth in the second quarter from the corresponding period in 2009, to 1.9% from 1.7%.
