U.S. Jobless Claims Fall More than Expected

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, offering reassurance that the bottom is not falling out of the labor market despite signs of slower growth.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000 the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week’s number was revised to show 3,000 more applications than previously reported.

Analysts had expected 351,000 new claims last week.

A Labor Department analyst said there was nothing unusual in the data and no states had estimated their claims.

via CNBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza