US: Weekly Initial Jobless Claims decline to 553K vs. 549K expected

• Weekly Initial Jobless Claims in the US decreased by 13,000.
• US Dollar Index stays in daily range a little above 90.50.

There were 553,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending April 24, the data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) revealed on Thursday. This reading came in slightly worse than the market expectation of 549,000 but showed an improvement from the previous print of 566,000 (revised from 547,000).

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index continues to fluctuate in a tight range above 90.50 after this report.

Additional takeaways

"The 4-week moving average was 611,750, a decrease of 44,000 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020, when it was 225,500."

"The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6% for the week ending April 17, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate."

"The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 17 was 3,660,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's revised level."