Forexpros – The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell more-than-expected, declining to the lowest level since late February, 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 December 2 fell by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000, outstripping expectations for a decline of 8,000 to 396,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 404,000 from 402,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended November 25 fell to 3.583 million, beating expectations for a decline to 3.700 million. Continuing claims for the previous week were revised up to 3.575 million from 3.740 million.
The average of new claims over the past four weeks decreased by 3,000 to 393,250, the lowest since April. 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 added to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD up 0.22% to trade at 1.3442.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures extended gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a rise of 0.75%, S&P 500 futures climbed 0.8%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a gain 0.75%.
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