The US Dollar has weakened against the Euro and weakened against the British Pound after new data showed that the number of people filing for unemployment benefits in the US fell less than forecast last week.
The weaker-than-expected data is set to fuel concerns over the health of the US jobs market and increases speculation that the Federal Reserve could choose to refrain from cutting back its monetary easing programme.
According to the US Department of Labour, the number of people filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 1st declined by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted figure of 346,000. Economists had been expecting a decline of 12,000 to 345,000.
Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to 357,000 from a previously reported increase of 354,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended May 25th fell to 2.952 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to decline to 2.975 million from last week’s revised figure of 3.004 million.
Despite the figure being less than expected the data is not showing the mass layoffs that some economists feared could occur as tax hikes and government spending cuts took effect. The next major mover for the US Dollar is due on Friday with the release of the latest Non-farm payrolls data.
Employers are expected to have added an extra 170,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, up from April’s figure of 165,000. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged, holding at a 4-1/2 year low of 7.5%.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6473
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7620
The US Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0532
The US Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 99.2150
The US Dollar/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0332
The Pound Sterling/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.5446
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3121
The Australian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9494
The Canadian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9678
The New Zealand Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7960
(Correct as of 14:55 pm GMT)
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