Initial weekly US jobless claims continue to soar

The US jobs market continued to deteriorate at a rapid pace during the last week for which data were available.

According to the Department of Labor, initial jobless claims for the week ending on 25 April rose by approximately another 3.839m.

That was down from the 4.427m surge seen during the prior week and slightly below some economists' forecasts.

Barclays Research had been anticipating a print of 4.0m.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average for initial claims, which aims to smooth out the variations in the data from one week to the next, declined by 757,000 to 5,033,250.

Secondary unemployment claims, those which are not being filed for the first time and referencing the week ending on 18 April, increased by a further 2.174m to reach 17.992m.