• Initial Jobless Claims fell by 2,000 in the week ending August 20.
• US Dollar Index trades flat on the day above 108.50.

There were 243,000 initial jobless claims in the week ending August 20, the weekly data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) showed on Thursday. This print followed the previous week's print of 245,000 (revised from 252,000) and came in better than the market expectation of 253,000.

Further details of the publication revealed that the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1% and the 4-week moving average was 247,000, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week's unrevised average.

"The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 13 was 1,415,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level," the DOL further announced.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index edged higher after this data and was last seen trading virtually unchanged on the day at 108.56.