Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. rose unexpectedly last week, underlining 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 July 6 rose by 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 360,000, compared to expectations for a drop of 4,000 to 340,000.
Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to a gain of 344,000, from a previously reported 343,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended June 29 rose to 2.977 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to decline to 2.950 million from last week’s revised figure of 2.953 million.
The four-week moving average was 351,750, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average of 345,750.
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 held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.6% to trade at 1.3058.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures remained higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a gain of 0.9% at the open, S&P 500 futures pointed to a rise 1%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated an increase of 0.9% 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 July 6 rose by 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 360,000, compared to expectations for a drop of 4,000 to 340,000.
Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to a gain of 344,000, from a previously reported 343,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended June 29 rose to 2.977 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to decline to 2.950 million from last week’s revised figure of 2.953 million.
The four-week moving average was 351,750, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average of 345,750.
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 held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.6% to trade at 1.3058.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures remained higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a gain of 0.9% at the open, S&P 500 futures pointed to a rise 1%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated an increase of 0.9% at the open.