Investing.com - Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. rose more-than-expected last week, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending December 15 rose by 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 361,000, compared to expectations for an increase of 13,000 to 357,000.
Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to 344,000 from a previously reported 343,000,
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended December 8 rose to 3.225 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to fall to 3.199 million from last week's revised figure of 3.213 million.
The four-week moving average was 367,750, a decrease of 13,750 from the previous week's revised average of 381,500.
The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.22% to trade at 1.3256.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices were little changed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a flat open, S&P 500 futures were little changed, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a gain of 0.15%.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
