• There were 286K initial claims in the week ending on January 8, more than expected. 
• In a reaction to the data, the dollar saw modest negative ticks.

There were 286,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending January 15, data published by the US Department of Labor (DoL) revealed on Thursday. This reading followed last week's print of 231,000 (revised up from 230K) and was well above consensus market expectations for 220,000. Continued claims in the week ending on January 8 also came in higher than expected at 1635K versus expectations for a more modest rise to 1580K from 1551K the week before. The insured unemployment rate rose slightly to 1.2% from 1.1%. 

Market Reaction

The DXY saw some modest negative ticks in response to the data and has now dropped back to test the 95.50 area.