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.