U.S. weekly initial jobless claims rise

Initial jobless claims in the U.S. rose last week. In the week ended 20 October, initial jobless claims rose by 5000 to 215k, consistent with consensus expectations of 215k. The four-week moving average remained the same at 212k from the prior week and remains stable near recovery-level lows. Continuing claims dropped by 5000 in the week ended 13 October to 1.636 million, and the four-week moving average dropped 18.8k to 1.646 million. The insured jobless rate dropped a bit to 1.1 percent.

State wise, initial claims dropped modestly in North and South Carolina after the hurricane landfall in early September. However, that rise seems to be reverting. Initial claims in North Carolina rose about 10k initially but have now reversed most of that initial rise. In South Carolina, the rise in weekly initial claims was more modest at around 5000, and that rise has now reversed.

The comparatively mild rise in initial jobless claims after the hurricane in these two states appears at odds with the marked easing in nonfarm payrolls in September.

“While we believe the storm did temporarily weaken some categories of employment, most notably leisure and hospitality, we continue to have a difficult time reconciling the stability of labor market conditions as indicated by jobless claims data and the slowing in September payroll growth”, stated Barclays.

Despite the weather-induced volatility in the weekly claims data, the overall message from the report stays one of low rates of job separation and, in turn, healthy labor market conditions.

At 14:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was highly bullish at 113.533. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex