US jobless claims fall to four month low

Americans filed new unemployment claims at a slower pace in the week ended 14 January, according to the Department of Labor.

Initial jobless claims fell by 15,000 week-on-week to 190,000, the lowest in four months and well and truly below Wall Street expectations for a print of 214,000.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, initial claims fell by 53,582 to 285,575, principally due to seasonal factors.

The four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, slipped by 6,500 to 206,000, while continuing claims rose by 17,000 to 1.64m in the week ended 7 January.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com