Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose less 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 March 19 increased by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 265,000 from the previous week’s total of 259,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 9,000 to 268,000 last week.
First-time jobless claims have held below the 300,000-level for 54 consecutive weeks, which is usually associated with a firming labor market.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended March 12 fell to 2.179 million from 2.218 million in the preceding week. Analysts had expected continuing claims to inch up to 2.230 million.
The four-week moving average was 259,750, an increase of 250 from the previous week's 259,500. 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 1.1162 from around 1.1159 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4137 from 1.4135 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 112.58 from 112.60 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 96.22, compared to 96.23 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures fell 83 points, or 0.47%, the S&P 500 futures dipped 11 points, or 0.53%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures shed 23 points, or 0.51%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,222.20 a troy ounce, compared to $1,222.10 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $38.97 a barrel from $39.03 earlier.