Euro Could Start Feeling The Effects Of Uncertainty In Ukraine

The euro was steady against the dollar and traded at $1.3682 at 6:45 GMT on Thursday morning. The common currency held its ground against an improving dollar which reached a two week high in the early hours of Thursday. Investors have been flocking to the greenback as a safe haven while tensions in Ukraine heat up and threaten to explode into a wider problem. The euro has been teetering as many are nervous that the problems in Ukraine could bring the common currency lower. The Ukrainian economy continued its downward spiral on Thursday as Western leaders scrambled to put together some kind of aid package. The Wall Street Journal reported that Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the nation's designated prime minister, gave a harrowing description of the nation's financial troubles. Yatsenyuk said Ukraine is struggling under $130 billion worth of debt and that the treasury is completely empty. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent 150,000 troops to do military exercises near the border of Ukraine. Putin's decision prompted the US to send out a warning asking Russia not to intervene militarily. Adding to the pressure on the euro, French unemployment data confirmed that the eurozone's second largest economy was struggling to keep its head above water. On Wednesday, jobless figures showed that the number of Category A job seekers rose 0.3 percent in January, the highest it has been since 1996 when recordkeeping began. Despite the French government's attempts to boost hiring, the European Commission painted a bleak picture of the nation's unemployment in its forecast report on Tuesday. The commission sees French unemployment remaining at 11 percent for the rest of the year and well into 2015.