Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell more than expected, remaining in territory usually associated with a firming labor 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 April 2 decreased by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 267,000 from the previous week’s total of 276,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to fall by 6,000 to 270,000 last week.
First-time jobless claims have held below the 300,000-level for 56 consecutive weeks, which is usually associated with a firming labor market.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended March 26 rose to 2.191 million from 2.172 million in the preceding week. Analysts had expected continuing claims to inch up to 2.173 million.
The four-week moving average was 266,750, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's 263,250. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1367 from around 1.1366 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4079 from 1.4079 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 108.45 from 108.44 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.57, compared to 94.56 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures shed 74 points, or 0.42%, the S&P 500 futures dipped 10 points, or 0.46%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 19 points, or 0.41%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,239.30 a troy ounce, compared to $1,239.60 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $37.49 a barrel from $37.47 earlier.