U.S. initial jobless claims rise marginally in mid-August, trend of strong employment gains likely to continue

The jobless claims in the U.S. rose slightly in mid-August. The initial claims for the week ended 19 August rose to 234k from the previous 232k. This is slightly below consensus expectations of 238k. Claims for the week ended 12 August were kept unrevised at 232k, and along with today’s release, led the four-week moving average to drop by 3000 to 238k. This is just modestly above the recovery-level low of 235k seen in the week ended 19 May of 2017.

Continuing claims stayed the same in the week ended 12 August at 1.954 million and the four-week moving average dropped by 3000 to 1.958 million. The insured jobless rate remained stable at 1.4 percent. In all, initial and continuing claims have rebounded modestly in recent weeks; however not so much so as to alter the view on the state of labor markets relative to earlier in 2017, noted Barclays in a research report.

The separation side of the labor market continues to be exceptionally weak, which possibly hints that the recent trend of solid employment gains are expected to continue, added Barclays.

At 15:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was neutral at 17.068. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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