Forexpros – The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell significantly more-than-expected, dropping by the most since May 2011, 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 April 28 fell by 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 365,000, beating expectations for a decline of 12,000 to 380,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 392,000 from 388,000.
Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 25 of the past 27 weeks, though lately claims have been pushing higher from the 350,000 associated with above-average job growth.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended April 21 fell to 3.276 million from an upwardly revised 3.329 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to decline to 3.311 million.
The four-week moving average was 383,500, an increase of 750 from the previous week’s revised average of 382,750.
The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar remained higher against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.44% to trade at 1.3100.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures added to gains after the data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated an increase of 0.2% at the open, S&P 500 futures pointed to a rise of 0.25%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a gain of 0.25%.
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