Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose slightly more than forecast, but remained in territory consistent with a firming of the American 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 February 18 increased by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 244,000 from the previous week’s total of 238,000 which was revised from an initial reading of 239,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 2,000 from the original reading to 241,000 last week.
First-time jobless claims below the 300,000-level are usually associated with a firming labor market.
Meanwhile, continuing jobless claims in the week ended February 11 fell more than expected to 2.060 million from 2.077 million in the preceding week, which was revised from 2.076 million.
Analysts had expected continuing claims to decrease to only 2.068 million.
The four-week moving average was 241,000, a drop of 4,000 from the previous week's revised reading of 245,000 (initially 245,250). That was the lowest level for this average since July 21, 1973 when it was 239,500.
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, which was released simultaneously with the Chicago Fed National Activity for January, EUR/USD was trading at 1.0577 compared to 1.0568 ahead of the release, GBP/USD was at 1.2495 from 1.2485 earlier, while USD/JPY traded at 112.69 compared to 112.80 before the publication.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 101.05, compared to 101.14 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open. The Dow futures edged forward 26 points, or 0.13%, the S&P 500 futures advanced 3 points, or 0.12%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures inched up 3 points, or 0.05%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,248.35 a troy ounce, compared to $1,247.45 ahead of the data, while U.S. crude oil traded at $54.59 a barrel from $54.54 earlier.