Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. fell less-than-expected last week, fuelling concerns over the U.S. jobs 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 June 1 fell by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, compared to expectations for a decline of 12,000 to 345,000.
Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to 357,000 from a previously reported increase of 354,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended May 25 fell to 2.952 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to decline to 2.975 million from last week’s revised figure of 3.004 million.
The four-week moving average was 352,500, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average of 348,000.
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 lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.06% to trade at 1.3099.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures held on to gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.2% at the open, S&P 500 futures indicated a gain of 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a 0.25% advance.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 1 fell by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, compared to expectations for a decline of 12,000 to 345,000.
Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to 357,000 from a previously reported increase of 354,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended May 25 fell to 2.952 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to decline to 2.975 million from last week’s revised figure of 3.004 million.
The four-week moving average was 352,500, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average of 348,000.
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 lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.06% to trade at 1.3099.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures held on to gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.2% at the open, S&P 500 futures indicated a gain of 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a 0.25% advance.