Forexpros – The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose modestly, 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 August 11 rose by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 366,000, compared to expectations for an increase of 1,000 to 365,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 364,000 from a previously reported 361,000.
Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 40 of the past 42 weeks.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended August 4 fell to 3.305 million from a revised 3.336 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to decline to 3.300 million.
The four-week moving average was 363,750, a decrease of 5,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 369,250.
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 turned modestly higher against the euro, with EUR/USD easing down 0.09% to trade at 1.2300.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures remained mildly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a gain of 0.2% at the open, S&P 500 futures indicated a rise of 0.25%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled an increase of 0.35%.
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