US: Initial Jobless Claims increased more than expected last week

• Initial Jobless Claims rose by 218K from a week earlier.
• Continuing Jobless Claims surprised to the upside.

US citizens that applied for unemployment insurance benefits increased by 218K in the week ending February 3 according to the US Department of Labor (DoL) on Thursday. Once again, the prints surpassed consensus and follow a 227K gain in the previous week.

Further details of the publication revealed that the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% (from 1.3%) and the 4-week moving average stood at 212.25, a decrease of 3.750K from the previous week's revised average.

In addition, Continuing Claims decreased by 23K to 1.894M in the week ended January 27.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index kept the weekly advance in place and flirts with yearly highs near 104.40 soon after the publication of weekly labour market data.