Investing.com - Financial Markets Worldwide
Get 40% Off
Get 40% Off
These stocks are up over 10% post earnings. Did you spot the buying opportunity? Our AI did.Read how

U.S. initial jobless claims fall by 2,000 to 291,000 last week

Published 11/20/2014, 08:32 AM
U.S. initial jobless claims fall less than forecast last week

Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell less than expected, dampening optimism over the strength of the 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 15 decreased by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 291,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 293,000.

Analysts had expected jobless claims to fall by 7,000 to 286,000 last week.

The number of Americans applying for new jobless benefits held below 300,000 for the tenth consecutive week, signaling the recovery in the labor market is gaining momentum.

Continuing jobless claims in the week ended November 8 declined to 2.330 million from 2.403 million in the preceding week. Analysts had expected continuing claims to fall to 2.395 million.

The four-week moving average was 287,500, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week’s total of 285,750. 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 1.2518 from around 1.2539 ahead of the release of the data, while GBP/USD was at 1.5690 from 1.5701 earlier.

Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a modestly lower open. The Dow futures pointed to a loss of 0.45% at the open, the S&P 500 futures dipped 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.4%.

Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,188.80 a troy ounce, compared to $1,189.40 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $74.56 a barrel from $74.67 earlier.

3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads .

Latest comments

Install Our App
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.