Us Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Jump Higher

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Us Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Jump Higher

US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Jump Higher, Signals Labor Market Weakness

As per the latest initial jobless claims data for the past week, 207000 new people have filed for unemployment in the USA. The last week's data showed a reading of 205K only, which suggests that a change of 2,000 has occurred.

Overall, the market was expecting the initial jobless claims to touch 210,000, but the actual reading came a little better (a difference of 3,000). Despite the better-than-expected data, we can't ignore the fact that the US labor market is not as strong as it was a few months ago.

Unemployment Rate Is 1.1%

In addition, the data also showed that the unemployment rate based on seasonally adjusted data is now sitting at 1.1%. Similarly, the 4-week MA is now hovering near 208750, which is also around 25,000 lower than the data from last week.

According to the publication, the unemployment number based on seasonally adjusted data is now around 1664K, which is also around 1K lower than last week.

The market took the data as positive and thus pushed the USD higher. However, the optimism quickly faded away as most of the USD pairs were trading almost flat. In addition, the DXY is now sitting near the 10.675 and awaits the next day's NFP report.

For now, we have the initial jobless claims, which is better than forecast, and an ADP reading, which paints an alarming condition of the US labor market. That's why tomorrow's NFP report will be important, as it will provide a more clear picture of the US labor market.

In general, a better-than-expected NFP will lift up the DYX (Dollar index), while a missed target will send the DXY lower from multi-month highs. But if the NFP report is mixed, then it will be hard to forecast any particular direction for the US Dollar.

According to experts, the NFP report may show a worsening condition of the US labor market, which will be USD bearish.

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