Investing.com – The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose more-than-expected, after dropping to the lowest level in nearly four years in the previous 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 January 21 rose by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 377,000 from 356,000 in the preceding week, whose figure was revised up from 352,000.
Analysts had expected U.S. jobless to rise by 14,000 to 370,000 last week.
Despite the increase, jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 11 of the past 13 weeks.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended January 14 rose to 3.554 million, disappointing expectations for an increase to 3.500 million. Continuing claims for the previous week were revised up to 3.466 million from 3.432 million.
The average of new claims over the past four weeks decreased by 2,500 to 377,500. 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 gaining 0.46% to trade at 1.3167.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices remained higher after the release of the data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a gain of 0.35%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a rise of 0.15%.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending January 21 rose by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 377,000 from 356,000 in the preceding week, whose figure was revised up from 352,000.
Analysts had expected U.S. jobless to rise by 14,000 to 370,000 last week.
Despite the increase, jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 11 of the past 13 weeks.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended January 14 rose to 3.554 million, disappointing expectations for an increase to 3.500 million. Continuing claims for the previous week were revised up to 3.466 million from 3.432 million.
The average of new claims over the past four weeks decreased by 2,500 to 377,500. 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 gaining 0.46% to trade at 1.3167.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices remained higher after the release of the data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a gain of 0.35%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a rise of 0.15%.