US weekly Initial Jobless Claims decline to 228K vs. 235K expected

• Initial Jobless Claims in the US decreased by 4K in the week ending August 26.
• Continuing Jobless Claims rise by 28K, to 1.725 million in the week ending August 19.
• US Dollar Index stays around 103.40 following Core PCE and Jobless Claims.

Initial Jobless Claims totaled 228,000 in the week ending August 26, the weekly data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) showed on Thursday. It is the lowest reading in four weeks. This follows the previous week’s print of 232,000 (revised from 230,000) and came in below the market expectation of 235,000.

Further details of the publication revealed “The 4-week moving average was 237,500, an increase of 250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 236,750 to 237,250.”

Continuing claims rose by 28K in the week ending August 19 to 1.725 million, above market expectations of 1.7 million; the highest level in six weeks. “The 4-week moving average was 1,704,250, an increase of 8,250 from the previous week’s revised average”, the DOL further noted in its publication.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index declined modestly below 103.40 after the release of the Jobless Claims data and the Core Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index.