Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. fell less than expected 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 October 12 declined by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 358,000 from a downwardly revised 373,000 in the preceding week.
Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to decline to 335,000 last week.
Continuing jobless claims fell to 2.859 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to increase to 2.915 million from the previous week’s revised figure of 2.902 million.
The four-week moving average was 336,500, an increase of 11,750 from the previous week's average of 324,750.
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 sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/USD up 0.80% to trade at 1.3642.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mixed open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a gain of 1.36%, S&P 500 futures indicated decline of 0.16%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a 0.02% dip.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending October 12 declined by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 358,000 from a downwardly revised 373,000 in the preceding week.
Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to decline to 335,000 last week.
Continuing jobless claims fell to 2.859 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to increase to 2.915 million from the previous week’s revised figure of 2.902 million.
The four-week moving average was 336,500, an increase of 11,750 from the previous week's average of 324,750.
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 sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/USD up 0.80% to trade at 1.3642.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mixed open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a gain of 1.36%, S&P 500 futures indicated decline of 0.16%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a 0.02% dip.