US: Weekly Initial Jobless Claims decline to 250K vs. 265K expected

• Initial Jobless Claims fell by 2,000 in the week ending August 13.
• US Dollar Index trades flat on the day above 106.50.

There were 250,000 initial jobless claims in the week ending August 13, the weekly data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) showed on Thursday. This print followed the previous week's print of 252,000 (revised from 262,000) and came in lower than the market expectation of 265,000.

Further details of the publication revealed that the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1% and the 4-week moving average was 246,750, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average.

"The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 6 was 1,437,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level," the DOL further noted in its publication.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index edged slightly higher with the initial reaction and was last seen trading flat on the day at 106.70.