Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. fell more-than-expected last week to hit the lowest level since January 2008, 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 April 26 fell by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 324,000, compared to expectations for an increase of 3,000 to 345,000.
Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to 342,000 from a previously reported increase of 339,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended April 20 rose to 3.019 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to rise to 3.028 million from last week’s revised figure of 3.007 million.
The four-week moving average was 342,250, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised average of 358,250.
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 held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.06% to trade at 1.3188.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices pointed to higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.5%, S&P 500 futures pointed to a gain of 0.5%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to an increase of 0.5% at the open.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 26 fell by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 324,000, compared to expectations for an increase of 3,000 to 345,000.
Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to 342,000 from a previously reported increase of 339,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended April 20 rose to 3.019 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to rise to 3.028 million from last week’s revised figure of 3.007 million.
The four-week moving average was 342,250, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised average of 358,250.
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 held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.06% to trade at 1.3188.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices pointed to higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.5%, S&P 500 futures pointed to a gain of 0.5%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to an increase of 0.5% at the open.