The dollar was stuck in place versus other majors on Thursday as traders sifted through a pile of economic news ahead of tomorrow's pivotal monthly jobs report.

Stocks pushed slightly higher in afternoon action on Wall Street, fueling a bit risk appetite and preventing much upside for the safe haven dollar.

A key prelude to the jobs report provided some hope that the US employment situation is improving, albeit slowly.

First time claims for jobless benefits fell more than expected last week, but remain stubbornly high. Jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 472,000 for the week ended August 28, better than the 475,000 forecast by economists polled by Reuters.

Pending home sales posted a surprising increase of 5.2 percent to 79.4 in July from June, according to The National Association of Realtors.

And the government reported nonfarm productivity fell 1.8 percent, the largest drop in almost four years.

The dollar was steady versus the euro after seeing significant weakness on Wednesday. The buck held near $1.2800, near yesterday's two-week low of $1.2855.

Against the yen, the buck was little changed at 84.25, having tested its 15-year low of 83.58 before finding its footing.

There was little movement in the dollar/sterling pair, which stayed near 1.5400 throughout the day. The buck has gained about 6 cents versus the sterling over the past month.

The European Central Bank kept its key interest rate at one percent for a sixteenth month.

Jean-Claude Trichet, the region's top policy maker, said the euro zone's economy remains on track for a moderate but uneven recovery. Still, the ECB decided to extend emergency lending measures through the end of year to support the banking system.