Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. rose much less-than forecast last week, according to official data released on Thursday.
The Labor Department reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 11 rose by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 304,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised total of 302,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims rise to 315,000.
Continuing jobless claims declined to 2.73 million from 2.75 million in the preceding week, compared to expectations for an uptick to 2.79 million.
The four-week moving average was 312,000, down from the previous week’s total of 316,250. 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 weaker against the euro, with EUR/USD up 0.22% to trade at 1.3846.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a gain of 1.00%, S&P 500 futures indicated a gain of 0.21%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled an increase of 0.36%.