Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week was unchanged, holding steady near the lowest level since March 2008, 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 February 18 held steady at a seasonally adjusted 351,000, confounding expectations for an increase of 3,000 to 354,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 351,000 from 348,000.
Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 15 of the past 17 weeks.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended February 11 fell to 3.392 million, the lowest since August 2008, confounding expectations for a gain to 3.460 million.
Continuing claims for the previous week were revised up to 3.444 million from 3.426 million.
The average of new claims over the past four weeks decreased by 7,000 to 359,000. 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 remained lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.35% to trade at 1.3297.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices were largely unchanged after the release of the data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a modest increase of 0.15%, S&P 500 futures added 0.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a gain of 0.3%.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending February 18 held steady at a seasonally adjusted 351,000, confounding expectations for an increase of 3,000 to 354,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 351,000 from 348,000.
Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 15 of the past 17 weeks.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended February 11 fell to 3.392 million, the lowest since August 2008, confounding expectations for a gain to 3.460 million.
Continuing claims for the previous week were revised up to 3.444 million from 3.426 million.
The average of new claims over the past four weeks decreased by 7,000 to 359,000. 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 remained lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.35% to trade at 1.3297.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices were largely unchanged after the release of the data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a modest increase of 0.15%, S&P 500 futures added 0.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a gain of 0.3%.