• Initial claims fell to 238K in the week ending on January 29, below consensus expectations. 
• The dollar has been falling a result of weak Q4 Unit Labour Cost data rather than reacting to the jobless claims report

There were 238,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending January 29, data published by the US Department of Labor (DoL) revealed on Thursday. This reading followed last week's print of 261,000 (revised up from 260,000) and was below with consensus market expectations for 245,000. Continued Claims fell slightly less than expected to 1.628M in the week ending on January 22 from 1.672M the week prior (revised lower from 1.675M) and was slightly above the 1.62M expected. The insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.2%. 

Market Reaction

There was no discernable reaction to the latest jobless claims data, with the US dollar declining instead as a result of much weaker than expected Unit Labour Cost growth in Q4.