U.S. initial jobless claims increase in mid-April, labor market appears to remain strong

U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 14,000 to 257,000 in the week ended 22 April. Consensus expectations were for the jobless claims to come in at 241,000. The data for initial claims have bounced between the low 230s and the low 260s after reaching a low point of 227 in early February. The jobless claims data within this range is viewed as supportive of employment growth and indicates relatively strong underlying activity, noted Barclays in a research report.

Meanwhile, continuing claims continued to be lower than 2mn in the week ended 15 April. The insured jobless rate continued to be at 1.4 percent, matching the lowest reading during the current recovery. At the state level, deterioration in claims was led by a sharp increase in claims in New York. On the other hand, Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan all recorded significant improvement in claims on the month.

Overall, the initial and continuing claims data do not alter the scenario of a sound labor market. In spite of this week’s rise, the U.S. labor market appears to remain strong, and there is not pattern in the underlying state data to prove a pause on that assessment, stated Barclays.

At 16:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength of US Dollar was slightly bullish at 74.0471. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex