US initial jobless claims fall to 216,000

Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 26 October, according to the Labor Department.

Initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 216,000 last week, well below market expectations for a reading of 230,000, reinforcing the view that the US labour market remains resilient to the Federal Reserve's restrictive interest rate policy, adding weight to the argument that the central bank will likely steer clear of making any more further aggressive rate cuts at its upcoming meetings.

The four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, fell to 236,500, while continuing jobless claims fell to 1.86m, well below forecasts of 1.89m. Meanwhile, the non-seasonally adjusted initial claim count fell by 3,349 to 200,132.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com