Initial Jobless Claims rose less than estimated last week

• Initial Jobless Claims hit 231K for the week ending August 23, below the previous week’s 233K.
• Continuing Jobless Claims increased to 1.868M in the week ending August 16.

US citizens that newly applied for unemployment insurance benefits reached 231K in the week ending August 23, according to the US Department of Labor (DoL) on Thursday. The prints came in a tad below initial consensus (232K) and were slightly lower than the previous weekly figure of 233K (revised from 232K).

Further details of the publication revealed that the advance seasonally-adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% and the 4-week moving average was 231.5K, a decrease of 4.750K from the previous week’s revised average.

In addition, Continuing Claims increased by 13K to 1.868M in the week ended August 16.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index (DXY) extends its daily recovery and surpasses the key 101.00 barrier ahead of a Treasury Department four-week bill auction set for later in the day.

(This story was corrected on August 29 at 13:05 GMT to say that Continuing Jobless Claims had “increased to” 1.868M and that Intial Jobless Claims had reached 231K rather than increasing “by” those figures.)