Credit: Investing.com -
Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. fell more than expected, remaining in territory usually associated with a firming labor market, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending January 22 decreased by 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 278,000 from the previous week's total of 294,000, which was the highest since April. Analysts expected jobless claims to fall by 12,000 to 282,000 last week.
First-time jobless claims have held below the 300,000-level for 46 consecutive weeks, which is usually associated with a firming labor market.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended January 15 rose to 2.268 million from 2.219 million in the preceding week. Analysts had expected continuing claims to fall to 2.217 million.
The four-week moving average was 283,000, a decline of 2,250 from the previous week's 285,250. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0920 from around 1.0913 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4319 from 1.4323 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 118.80 from 118.86 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 98.82, compared to 98.87 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures rose 9 points, or 0.06%, the S&P 500 futures tacked on 4 points, or 0.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 30 points, or 0.72%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,119.80 a troy ounce, compared to $1,118.70 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $32.75 a barrel from $32.82 earlier.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
