Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated clip in the week ended 4 April, accprding to the Labor Department, potentially giving the Federal Reserve scope to leave interest rates unchanged as it gauges the economic fallout from the conflict with Iran.
Source: Sharecast
Initial claims rose 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 219,000, ahead of forecasts of 210,000, while the four-week moving average came to 209,500, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week.
Continuing claims, on the other hand, dropped by 38,000 to 1.79m - the lowest level in almost two years.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ended 28 March, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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