U.S. initial jobless claims fall sharply on reversal in New York claims

Initial jobless claims in the U.S. dropped sharply. In the week ended 21 April, initial jobless claims fell 24k to 209k, as compared with consensus expectations of 230k. This level is the lowest level since December 1969. The decline brings the four-week moving average to 229k, down 3k from the prior week.

Taking a look at the state level data, the fall seems to be mainly driven by New York where initial claims dropped 23k after rising 17k last week. The 23k fall in New York initial clams accounts for almost all the decline at the headline level, noted Barclays in a research report.

Elsewhere in the report, continuing claims dropped 29k to 1.837 million in the week ended 14 April. The four-week moving average in continuing claims stands at 1.849 million, down from 11k from a week earlier, and the insured jobless rate remained stable at 1.3 percent.

“We look ahead to next week’s claims data, where we expect to have a better signal about underlying labor market conditions”, stated Barclays.

At 15:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was highly bullish at 182.392. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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