The number of employment claims dropped to 348K in the US, a bit better than 353K that was expected.
Last week’s number was revised from 351K to 353K. All in all, the figures are within expectations and point to the same gradual improvement seen beforehand in the US labor market.
This is the second time that the initial figure hits this level, the lowest since the financial crisis.
Also on February 16th, the initial number was 348K, but it was later revised to 351K. A figure of less than 400K is considered to be an indicator of dropping unemployment.
The four week moving average remains almost unchanged. All in all, the recent months saw a range of 350K to 370K, with a lean lower. It will be interesting to see if this level is confirmed next week.
Euro/dollar remains above the lower support line of 1.3150. It fell there after bad PMIs in Europe. The yen also enjoyed the global worries.
Note the head and shoulders pattern in EUR/USD.
