NEW YORK: The dollar edged higher against the euro on Thursday after data showed the US economy maintained a strong pace of growth in the fourth quarter, even as momentum appears to have slowed towards the end of the year.

Gross domestic product increased at a 2.9% annualised rate last quarter, the Commerce Department said in its advance fourth-quarter GDP growth estimate. The economy grew at a 3.2% pace in the third quarter. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast GDP rising at a 2.6% rate.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 186,000 for the week ended Jan. 21.

“A somewhat mixed picture painted by the US data,” said Stuart Cole, head macro economist at Equiti Capital in London.

The data point to an economy that is continuing to show resilience in the face of the rapid monetary tightening so far delivered by the Fed, Cole said.

“But a big contributor to this growth story was inventories, a component that is almost certain to weaken as we go through 2023,” he said. “Thus, overall, a neutral picture I would say in terms of the impact the data will have on expectations of Fed policy going forward,” Cole said. The euro was 0.28% lower at $1.0884, but not far from the nine-month high of $1.09295 touched on Monday.

Against the yen, the dollar was up 0.59% at 130.345 yen.

Attention now turns to next week’s central bank meetings, including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.