Forexpros – The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell less-than-expected, but remained close to the lowest level since April 2008, 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 March 31 fell by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 357,000, falling short of expectations for a decline of 8,000 to 355,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 363,000 from 359,000.
Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 21 of the past 23 weeks. Lately claims have settled in the 350,000 range, a level typically associated with above-average job growth.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended March 24 fell to 3.338 million, the lowest since August 2008, from an upwardly revised 3.354 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to fall to 3.350 million.
The four-week moving average was 361,750, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 366,000.
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 0.65% to trade at 1.3056.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures held on to losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a drop of 0.4%, S&P 500 futures pointed to a loss of 0.45%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a 0.25% decline.
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