Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose more than expected though they continued to remain 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 July 23 increased by 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 266,000 from the previous week’s total of 252,000, which was revised from the initial read of 253,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 7,000 to 260,000 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 16 increased more than expected to 2.139 million from 2.132 million in the preceding week, which was revised from the original figure of 2.128 million.
Analysts had expected continuing claims to rise to 2.130 million.
The four-week moving average was 256,500, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 257,500 (initially 257,750).
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 1.1093 from around 1.1089 ahead of the publication; GBP/USD was at 1.3152 from 1.3175 earlier; while USD/JPY was at 104.81 from 104.76 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 96.50, compared to 96.49 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat to lower open. The Dow futures edged down 10 points, or 0.05%, the S&P 500 futures slipped 1 point, or 0.03%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 4 points, or 0.09%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,349.75 a troy ounce, compared to $1,351.55 ahead of the data, while U.S.crude oil traded at $42.01 a barrel from $42.08 earlier.