In the week ending January 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 277,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 287,000. Analysts were anticipating decline to 271,000. The 4-week moving average was 275,750, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 277,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6% for the week ending December 26, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 26 was 2,230,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised level. The 4-week moving average was 2,218,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised average.
Euro is currently being traded few points above 1.0860 level, Sterling is around 1.4560 handle, while Aussie is above 0.6980.