US Dollar (USD) Exchange weakens against Pound, Euro and other major peers as retail sales and jobless claims data disappoints

The US Dollar weakened against the Pound and several other major peers on Thursday after data showed that the number of US citizens claiming unemployment benefits rose last week and as retail sales fell more-than-expected last month.

According to the Washington based Labour Department the number of people making first time jobless claims increased by 4,000 to bring the four week moving average to 317,000 in the week ending June 7th. Economists had been expecting a fall to 310,000. Despite the slight rise the data was not widely seen as altering expectations that the labour market will continue to gradually improve.

Thursday’s report also showed the number of workers continuing to draw unemployment benefits rose by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.61 million in the week ended May 31st. Those figures are reported with a one-week lag.

“Retail sales are a weak number, and jobless claims are once again creeping higher. The market is firm in the consensus that interest rates will remain low for some time,” said a foreign exchange broker.

The data added to speculation that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates at low levels in order to strengthen the economy.

Also putting the US Dollar under pressure against the Pound and other peers was a separate report which showed that US retail sales rose by just 0.3% in May. The figure fell short of investor expectations for a rise of 0.6%. Despite that the previous month’s sales were revised upwards to a 0.5% gain from its previous reading of 0.1%.

Retail sales data which excluded automobile sales eased by 0.1% in May disappointing expectations for a rise of 0.2%.

Against the Pound the ‘Greenback’ weakened for a second straight day as the UK currency continued to be buoyed by yesterday’s better-than-forecast unemployment data.

US Dollar (USD) Exchange Rates