Euro falls vs dollar as euro zone economy shrinks

President Barack Obama shakes hands after arriving at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Decatur, Ga., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, before speaking to promote his economic and education plan that he highlighted in his State of the Union address. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Euro falls vs dollar as euro zone economy shrinks

Published: 10:07:17 PM, Thu 14 February 2013 UTC

NEW YORK (AP) — Signs that the recession is deepening in the 17 countries that use the euro pushed the currency lower against the dollar Thursday.

The euro fell to $1.3346 in late trading Thursday from $1.3450 late Wednesday.

Eurostat, the European Union's statistics office, said Thursday that the euro zone economy shrank 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter. Economists expected a decline of 0.4 percent.

In other trading, the British pound fell to $1.5485 from $1.5545.

The dollar rose to 0.9227 Swiss franc from 0.9175 Swiss franc.

The dollar fell to 93.02 Japanese yen from 93.46 yen and to 1.0014 Canadian dollar from 1.0019 Canadian dollar.

Tags: european union, culture_politics, thursday, late trading, united states dollar, percent, currency, pound sterling, dollar, british pound, canadian dollar, swiss franc, japanese yen, iso 4217, euro, new york, late wednesday, statistics office, euro zone economy, euro falls vs, previous quarter, legal tender