In the week ending December 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 287,000, an increase of 20,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 267,000. Analysts were anticipating increase to 274,000. The 4-week moving average was 277,000, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 272,500.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent for the week ending December 19, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 19 was 2,198,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 2,195,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,220,250, an increase of 9,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 2,211,000.
Euro is currently being traded few points above 1.0880 level, Sterling is around 1.4830 handle, while Aussie is above 0.7310 area. Later today, Chicago
PMI figures are scheduled for a release.