U.S. initial jobless claims rise by 13,000 to 336,000 last week

The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. rose more-than-expected last week, after hitting the lowest level since October 2007 in the preceding week, official data showed on Thursday. 

In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending August 17 rose by 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 336,000.

Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to a gain of 323,000, from a previously reported 320,000.

Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to rise by 7,000 to 330,000 last week.

Continuing jobless claims in the week ended August 10 rose to 2.999 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to decline to 2.960 million from last week’s figure of 2.970 million.

The four-week moving average was 330,500, a decline of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average of 332,750.

The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.

Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar trimmed gains against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.2% to trade at 1.3328.

Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. equity markets remained higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a gain of 0.3% at the open, S&P 500 futures pointed to a rise of 0.35% and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated an increase of 0.55%.