Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. fell broadly in line with market expectations last week, 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 22 fell by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, compared to expectations for a drop of 10,000 to 345,000.
Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to a gain of 355,000, from a previously reported 354,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended June 15 fell to 2.965 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to decline to 2.950 million from last week’s revised figure of 2.966 million.
The four-week moving average was 345,750, a decline of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average of 348,500.
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 held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.2% to trade at 1.3037.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to gain of 0.5%, S&P 500 futures indicated a rise of 0.6%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled an increase of 0.6%.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 22 fell by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, compared to expectations for a drop of 10,000 to 345,000.
Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to a gain of 355,000, from a previously reported 354,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended June 15 fell to 2.965 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to decline to 2.950 million from last week’s revised figure of 2.966 million.
The four-week moving average was 345,750, a decline of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average of 348,500.
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 held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.2% to trade at 1.3037.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to gain of 0.5%, S&P 500 futures indicated a rise of 0.6%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled an increase of 0.6%.