By Karen Johnson Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES TORONTO (Dow Jones)--The Canadian dollar pared overnight gains early Thursday, as U.S. weekly jobless claims data revived fears about the health of the labor market in the world's largest economy. The worse-than-expected joblessness report, which hit the wires along with a slew of other U.S. and Canadian indicators, likely left the strongest initial imprint on the market, with the labor market top of minds this week for investors. The U.S. dollar was at C$1.0006 Thursday after the data, from C$0.9987 just before, and C$1.0038 late Wednesday, according to data provider CQG. In the U.S., initial weekly jobless claims made a steep climb last week, reinforcing fears that the labor market has lost some momentum. Initial jobless claims increased by 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 380,000 in the week ended April 7, the Labor Department said Thursday. The market was expecting only 358,000 new claims. The data mark the largest weekly rise in claims in nearly one year. In other data, the U.S. trade deficit in February contracted at its fastest pace in nearly three years, helped by record exports and a slump in imports of oil and Chinese goods. And U.S. wholesale prices, meanwhile, reportedly held steady in March, as gasoline costs eased after a sharp increase in February. In Canadian data, the trade surplus for February came in at a fraction of the consensus call for the smallest surplus in four months, with exports posting the first back-to-back decline in two years on lower shipments of energy products and cars. The trade surplus narrowed to C$292 million as exports declined 3.9% - the most in a year - to C$39.61 billion and imports edged up 0.2% to C$39.31 billion, Statistics Canada said Thursday. Also in Canada, monthly new house prices rose slightly faster than expected in February, led by gains in the Toronto area. -By Karen Johnson, Dow Jones Newswires; 416-306-2022; karen.johnson@dowjones.com

Source