U.S. initial jobless claims stay at low levels at July-end

U.S. initial jobless claims continue to be at low levels at the end of July. For the week ended 28 July, initial jobless claims rose to 218k from 217k in the prior week. The outturn was widely consistent with consensus expectations of 220k. The four-week moving average dropped to 214k.

Overall, today’s report adds to evidence of a sound labor market. Claims started moving higher in mid-June, leading to question whether it could be the fallout of protectionist measures. The decline over the past few weeks, however, implies no such effect on labor markets yet. However, the data will be monitored in the weeks ahead.

At 14:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was bullish at 75.146. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex