U.S. initial jobless claims falls in mid-April to lowest levels in five decades

U.S. initial jobless claims dropped in mid-April. In the week ended 13 April, the initial jobless claims fell 5k to 192k, the lowest levels in five decades and, as a share of employment, stand at all-time record lows. The four-week moving average dropped to 201k, down from 207k a week earlier. The weekly claims data continue to be in line with healthy labor market conditions and historically low rates of job separation, noted Barclays in a research report.

Recent trends in initial claims send an upbeat hint for April employment. The week ended 13 April is the survey week for April employment and the current readings on initial claims and its four-week moving average are modestly below the readings seen in the March survey week. Initial claims and its four-week moving average are 24k and 20k, respectively, below the April survey week.

Moreover, continuing claims for the week ended 6 April saw a huge drop of 63k to 1.653 million leaving the series slightly above the recovery-level low of 1.649 million reached in October 2019. The insured jobless rate remained stable at 1.2 percent.

At 17:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was highly bullish at 165.672 more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex