US Jobless Claims Rose Less Than Expected Last Week

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose less than expected last week and the four-week moving average of claims hit its lowest level since 2000, suggesting an abrupt slowdown in job growth in March could be temporary.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 281,000 for the week ended April 4, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Claims for the prior week were revised to show 1,000 fewer applications received than previously reported.

 
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 285,000 last week.

U.S. stock index futures trimmed losses and prices for U.S. government debt dipped after the data. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies. A Labor Department analyst said there was nothing unusual in the state-level data. Claims tend to be volatile around Easter because of the shifting nature of the holidays.

The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 3,000 to 282,250 last week, the lowest level since June 2000. Claims below 300,000 are associated with a strengthening labor market.

Job growth slowed sharply in March, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by only 126,000, ending a 12-month stretch of employment gains above 200,000. But with the weakness mostly concentrated in the weather-sensitive leisure and construction sectors, economists downplayed the slowdown.

via Reuters

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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