Weekly jobless claims dropped to 372K, continuing the gradual positive trend of drops in unemployment. Early expectations stood on 375K, so this is practically within expectations.
Last week’s figure was revised from 381K to 387K. All in all, there’s no huge change. The less volatile 4 week moving average dropped from 376,500 to 373,250, the lowest in over three and a half years.
A few minutes earlier, ADP provided a very positive surprise, showing a gain of 325K jobs in the private sector, raising the bar for the NFP.
And now, jobless claims provide hope for the accompanying figure: the unemployment rate. It dropped to 8.6% last month, and is expected to tick up to 8.7% now.
EUR/USD isn’t impressed. Issues in Europe still weigh on the pair, which is at a 16 month low.
The pair already found support at 1.2830, after making a convincing break below the 1.2873 line. Significant support is only at 1.2720 at this point, if 1.2830 gives way.
