U.S. initial jobless claims rise higher, continue to hint at healthy labor market

U.S. initial jobless claims rose higher in the first week of August. Claims for the week ended 5 August rose to 244,000, slightly higher than consensus expectations of 240k. This takes the four-week moving average lower to 241k. Claims have seen a greatly sideways trend these past couple of months, indicating little to no change in the rate of separations in the labor market, noted Barclays in a research report.

Continuing claims for the week ended 29 July dropped to 1951k, while the four-week moving average remained stable 1965k. The insured jobless rate stayed the same at 1.4 percent. State-wise, most states registered just modest changes in claims in either direction. The major increases came from Kansas and South California, which was partly countered by a significant drop in claims in California.

At 17:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was neutral at 28.6628. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

FxWirePro launches Absolute Return Managed Program. For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/invest