Weekly US jobless claims continue to point to tight jobs market

Weekly unemployment claims figures in the US continued to point to a tight jobs market.

According to the US Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, the number of initial jobless claims fell by 20,000 over the week ending on 11 March to reach 192,000.

Economists had penciled-in a print of 201,000.

The four-week moving average meanwhile slipped by 750 to 196,500.

Secondary unemployment claims meanwhile dipped by 29,000 during the week ending on 4 March to reach 1.684m.

"A tight labor market will lead to further rate hikes from the Fed, although the FOMC will proceed more cautiously given the recent stress in the banking system and its uncertain impact on the economy," Nancy Vanden Houten and Ryan Sweet at Oxford Economics said in a research report sent to clients.

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