Investing.com – The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to a seven-month low, 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 November 11 fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, confounding expectations for an increase of 2,000 to 395,000.
It was the lowest level since the week ended April 2, while the four-week moving average declined to 396,750, the lowest since week ended April 9.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 393,000 from 390,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended November 4 fell to 3.608 million, broadly in line with expectations, down from a revised 3.665 million in the preceding week.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD gaining 0.31% to trade at 1.3504.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures pared losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a modest decline of 0.15%, S&P 500 futures shed 0.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a 0.35% drop.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending November 11 fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, confounding expectations for an increase of 2,000 to 395,000.
It was the lowest level since the week ended April 2, while the four-week moving average declined to 396,750, the lowest since week ended April 9.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 393,000 from 390,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended November 4 fell to 3.608 million, broadly in line with expectations, down from a revised 3.665 million in the preceding week.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD gaining 0.31% to trade at 1.3504.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures pared losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a modest decline of 0.15%, S&P 500 futures shed 0.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a 0.35% drop.