Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to a seven-week low, remaining in territory associated with a healthy 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 September 3 decreased by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 259,000 from the previous week’s total of 263,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 2,000 to 265,000 last week.
The four-week moving average was 261,250, down 1,750 from the previous week. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended August 27 declined to 2.144 million from 2.151 million in the preceding week. Analysts had expected continuing claims to inch up to 2.153 million.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.70, compared to 94.64 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a muted open.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,349.85 a troy ounce, compared to $1,323.60 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $46.24 a barrel from $46.63 earlier.