US weekly jobless claims flat

By Francisco Miñana

Date: Thursday 17 May 2012

US weekly initial unemployment claims came in at 370,000, slightly above expectations.

The market consensus was looking for a reading of 365,000. The previous week's reading was revised higher to 370,000 from 367,000.

The four-week moving average fell by 4,750 to 375,000 from the previous week's revised reading of 379,750. The insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.6%.

Continuous unemployment claims, which include those claims not filed for the first time, rose by 18,000 to 3,265,000. The market was expecting a reading of 3,235,000. The previous week's reading was revised higher to 3,247,000 from 3,229,000.

The four-week moving average fell by 11,750 to 3,282,750 from last week's revised reading of 3,294,500.

Opinion:

Overall, the data is slightly negative following last week's positive data. Initial claims remain steady but above estimates including the revision to last week's number. Continuous claims moved higher but the underlying four-week moving average maintains its downwards tendency.

The data is slightly negative for the dollar and equities while positive for bonds.

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