Weak US relations, the Greek debt crisis Pushed the dollar (AP)

NEW YORK-the dollar rose Thursday against most major currencies after weak Us jobs and housing data, pointed to the recent economic slowdown. Anxious about Greece's debt crisis has helped Boost the dollar.

The u.s. economy is the largest in the world. Weaker growth here can damage the global economy. When investors anxious about a slowdown in global growth, they tend to bet on currencies which they consider less risky, as the yen, Swiss franc and the dollar.

The dollar is built on Wednesday's gains against the euro and British pound. In late afternoon trading Thursday, the euro fell to $ 1.4208 from $ 1.4376 late Wednesday. The pound fell to $ 1.5987 from $ 1.6085. The dollar rose to 80.58 yen by 80.32 yen.

Federal Reserve Chairman ben Bernanke said Wednesday that the economy was growing more slowly than it had expected the Central Bank, but said the Fed did not plan a new bond purchase programme to support the economy. This program, if approved, would likely weigh on interest rates, weakening the dollar's appeal to investors.

On Thursday Government reports highlighted concerns of Bernanke for the housing market and jobs. The Labour Department said applications for unemployment benefits rose by 9,000 to 429.000 last week, the largest increase in a month. This means that more and more people are looking for help after being fired from their jobs. Separately, the Commerce Department said that sales of new homes fell 2.1 percent in the month of May to 319.000.

The debt crisis in Europe also weighed on the euro. European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet said that Europe's debt problems could spread across the continent. If Greece cannot implement austerity measures, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund have threatened to hold a lot of emergency loans due in July and Greece may default if it doesn't get the aid. That could set off a European banking crisis and affect other countries with debt problems, such as Ireland, Portugal and Spain.

Other Trading Thursday, the dollar rose to 97.99 Canadian cents from 97.23 cents. Meanwhile, the dollar dipped to 0.8388 Swiss francs from 0.8392 Swiss francs.

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