NEW YORK, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar ended higher against most major currencies on Thursday as investors were digesting the latest economic growth data from the country.

U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, above market consensus of 2.0 percent, according to the "third" estimate released by the Commerce Department.

Meanwhile, in the week ending March 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 258,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 261,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

The overall upbeat data boosted the greenback on Thursday. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.37 percent at 100.370 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0685 dollars from 1.0753 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.2483 dollars from 1.2421 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7655 U.S. dollar from 0.7671 U.S. dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 111.58 Japanese yen, higher than 111.10 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 1.0004 Swiss francs from 0.9972 Swiss francs, and it edged down to 1.3307 Canadian dollars from 1.3334 Canadian dollars.