Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell slightly less than expected but remained 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 August 6 decreased by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 266,000 from the previous week’s total of 267,000, which was revised from the initial read of 269,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to drop by 4,000 from the initial prior reading to 265,000 last week.
First-time jobless claims below the 300,000-level are usually associated with a firming labor market.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended July 30 increased more than expected to 2.155 million from 2.141 million in the preceding week, which was revised from the original figure of 2.138 million.
Analysts had expected continuing claims to rise to 2.140 million.
The four-week moving average was 262,750, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 259,750 (initially 260,250).
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 1.1154 from around 1.1155 ahead of the publication; GBP/USD was at 1.2957 from 1.2962 earlier; while USD/JPY was unchanged at 101.35.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was unchanged at 95.75.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures rose 52 points, or 0.28%, the S&P 500 futures gained 5 points, or 0.22%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 12 points, or 0.26%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,351.85 a troy ounce, compared to $1,351.25 ahead of the data, while U.S. crude oil traded at $41.66 a barrel from $41.48 earlier.