In the week ending February 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 278,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 272,000. The 4-week moving average was 270,250, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 272,000. Analysts were expecting decrease to 271,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7% for the week ending February 20, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 20 was 2,257,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level. The 4-week moving average was 2,256,500, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average.
Euro is currently being traded few points above 1.0940 level, Sterling is around 1.4150 handle, while Aussie is around 0.7370 area.