Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell more than expected last week, remaining in territory consistent 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 November 5 decreased by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 254,000 from the previous week’s total of 265,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to drop by 5,000 to 260,000 last week.
First-time jobless claims below the 300,000-level are usually associated with a firming labor market.
This was its 88th consecutive week below that threshold, its longest stretch since 1970.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended October 29 rose to 2.040 million from a revised 2.023 million (initially 2.026 million) in the preceding week.
Analysts had expected continuing claims to increase to 2.030 million.
The four-week moving average was 259,750, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's 258,000 (which was revised from the original 257,750).
The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Immediately after the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.0897 from around 1.0891 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.2428 from 1.2422 earlier, while USD/JPY traded at 106.61 compared to 106.74 before the release.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 98.88, compared to 98.93 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures rose 95 points, or 0.51%, the S&P 500 futures gained 10 points, or 0.46%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 28 points, or 0.57%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,278.50 a troy ounce, compared to $1,277.50 ahead of the data, while U.S. crude oil traded at $44.80 a barrel from $44.79 earlier.