U.S. initial jobless claims witness modest decline, cement hopes of further Fed rate hike

Initial jobless claims in the United States declined modestly during the latest week ended December 24, cementing hopes of a further interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Also, Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s hawkish tone at the latest Dec 14 monetary policy meeting will get a boost following this data.

US initial jobless claims declined to 265,000 in the latest week ending December 24th from 275,000 previously and lower than market expectations of 277,000, data released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed Thursday.

The four-week moving average declined to 263,000 from 263,750 the previous week and this was the 95th consecutive week that claims were below the 300,000 level, the longest run below this level since 1970 when the labour market was much smaller.

The insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.5 percent for the week. Continuing claims increased 63,000 on the week to 2.102 million, which was the highest level since September with the 4-week moving average rising 4,500 on the week to 2.042 million.

Meanwhile, the dollar index traded at 102.34, down -0.33 percent, while at 3:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Dollar Strength Index remained neutral at -44.12 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex