* EU's Almunia comments weigh on euro
* Trichet's remarks further support Almunia's
* U.S. jobless claims increase, personal spending rises
* Dollar up as ISM manufacturing index below forecast
(Updates prices, adds comments, changes byline)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar advanced
against the euro on Thursday as weak jobs and manufacturing
data brightened the greenback's safe-haven appeal, while a top
European official's comments added pressure on the euro.
Investors got a reminder that the economy remains fragile
after data showed more people than expected filed initial
claims for jobless benefits last week, while the manufacturing
sector grew less than expected in September. For details, see
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"The most worrying thing you can have right now is a fall
back," said Joseph Trevisani, chief market analyst at FX
Solutions in Saddle River, New Jersey.
"Are we going to come out of recession? Yes ... but where
are we going? And how strong are things going to be?"
Traders also focused on remarks made by the European
Union's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin
Almunia saying euro strength would be discussed when Group of
Seven officials meet in Istanbul this weekend. ID:nWEA3160]
"Comments from an EU official about the euro's strength,
which would be discussed at the G7 meeting, have had a nasty
impact on the euro against the dollar," said David Watt, senior
currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. "So
people are not selling the dollar at the moment."
Supporting Almunia's statements were comments from European
Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who said excess
foreign-exchange moves had an adverse impact. On Monday, he
backed the argument for a strong U.S. currency.
Their comments followed statements from finance officials
around the world in the past week on their discomfort with
their currencies' strength against the dollar, which has
tumbled more than 6 percent against a currency basket in the
third quarter.
In midday New York trading, the euro fell 0.7 percent to
$1.4539 <EUR=>.
U.S. PAYROLLS LOOM
The day's economic data did offer some bright spots,
including strong personal spending for September and upbeat
housing numbers. But investors were focused on the
worse-than-expected manufacturing number from the Institute for
Supply Management.
"The (ISM) was pretty close to expectations, but if you're
looking at recovery, the number really didn't do the trick,"
said Ronald Simpson, director of currency research at Action
Economics in Tampa, Florida.
"The orders were up and the headline number was up, and the
employment component was lower again, so I think that's taken
some air out of the recovery scenario."
Investors were also wary ahead of Friday's key U.S. nonfarm
payrolls report. Data is expected to show the economy shed
180,000 jobs in September, according to a Reuters poll.
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The dollar <JPY=> was little changed against the yen,
holding at 89.73, staying above an eight-month trough of 88.23
yen hit earlier this week on trading platform EBS. Offers from
some Japanese exporters the dollar's gains, traders said.
The ICE futures dollar index <.DXY> rose 0.6 percent to
77.093.
(Additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez; Editing by Jan
Paschal)
