USDJPY, H1
US initial jobless claims rose 9,000 to 745,000 in the week ended February 27 following the -98,000 plunge to 736,000 in the February 20 week. That brought the 4-week moving average down to 790,800k from 807,500. Claims not seasonally adjusted rose 31,500 to 748,100 on the week after falling -118,500 to 716,600. Continuing claims declined -124,000 to 4.295 million in the February 20 week after tumbling -101,000 to 4.419 million. The insured unemployment rate dipped to 3.0% from 3.1%.
This leaves over 18 million unemployed citizens on government support and although holding under 800,000 the weekly initial claims count has yet to break below 700,000 since the pandemic hit the US at the end of March last year.
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 20 were in Illinois (+6,014), Missouri (+5,624), Tennessee (+3,987), Mississippi (+3,266), and Colorado (+2,842). The largest decreases were in California (-49,138), Ohio (-45,189), New York (-9,117), Idaho (-5,111), and Michigan (-3,942).
The Dollar was little changed following the data, which saw initial jobless claims largely in line with consensus, and continuing claims lower than forecast. Q4 productivity was revised higher, while unit labor costs were revised lower. EURUSD was a few points lower near 1.2030, with USDJPY up slightly over 107.45 and the 7-month high area.
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Stuart Cowell
Head Market Analyst
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