The US Dollar fell to a 29-month low earlier in Thursday’s session after the Pound continued to receive support from yesterday’s better than expected UK unemployment data and as a US jobs report showed that the number of US citizens continuing to claim jobless benefits remained above the 3 million mark.
According to the Washington based Labour Department the number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted total of 326,000. The figure was in line with economist expectations.
Putting pressure upon the Dollar was the data which showed that the number of people filing continuing unemployment benefits climbed to 3.056 million, up from the previous week’s figure of 3.022 million. The figure was higher than the 2.930 million that economists had been expecting.
U.S. employment data is being closely watched by investors since the latest non farm payrolls report showed that the economy added just 74,000 new jobs in December, a figure which well below expectations for 196,000.
The ‘Greenback’ also came under pressure from a separate report which showed that manufacturing growth in the world’s largest economy slowed in January for the first time in three months as new orders weakened.
According to Markit its Manufacturing PMI fell from December’s reading of 55.0 to 53.7 this month. A figure above indicates expansion. Economists however were not too concerned by the data as it still suggests that growth remains relatively robust.
With no major data releases due on Friday the US Dollar is likely to have a muted session tomorrow.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
US Dollar,
,Pound Sterling,0.6024 ,
US Dollar,,Euro,0.7321 ,
US Dollar,,Canadian Dollar,1.1124 ,
US Dollar,,Australian Dollar,1.1368 ,
Pound Sterling,,US Dollar,1.6600 ,
[/table]
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